Johannesburg (AFP)

Its economy hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, South Africa, already weakened by several years of weak growth, must present a plan on Wednesday to recover the country.

Usually, the South African Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, comes to present the country's budgetary guidelines to Parliament, accompanied by an aloe vera plant, capable of surviving in the midst of a drought ...

The metaphor will undoubtedly be also useful this year, in a context where now a record number of South Africans are unemployed, 7.2 million or 32.5% of the population, and forecasts count on a public debt which should reach 80% of GDP this year.

African country officially the most affected by Covid-19, South Africa quickly declared a "state of disaster" after the arrival of the virus in March on the continent.

And the government has put in place one of the strictest lockdowns in the world.

But in trying to protect itself from the epidemic, the country has also closed itself to tourists and foreign capital.

In Africa, where the sudden shutdown of the global economy linked to the Covid-19 crisis hit the incomes of emerging countries hard, United Nations economists announced in 2020 a fall in foreign direct investment of 25% to 40%.

- "No money" -

A significant withdrawal for South Africa, which derives 8% of its GDP from exports of minerals and metals.

On the social level, "poverty is on the rise, and inequalities are growing", lamented President Cyril Ramaphosa in mid-February, in his annual speech to the nation.

"There is no money and we have to find a balance between supporting the poorest and supporting growth," Daniel Meyer, who teaches business at the University of Johannesburg, told AFP.

Expected, however, the head of state remained vague on how to restore the economy.

"Like all those who have walked on this earth before us, we will rise again", he simply assured, choosing for his part the comparison with the fynbos, another local plant, symbol of resilience for its capacity to regenerate. after burning.

He just explained that he was counting on the private sector and industry to recreate jobs, relying on a recent investment of more than 823 million euros from Ford, to modernize its factories in the country.

While Jacob Zuma's successor does not see the end of his crusade against state corruption, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced an 8% contraction in 2020 of the economy of Africa's second industrial power, and modest growth (+ 3%) in 2021.

© 2021 AFP