Home | Goldstreet Business
Friday, June 2, 2023
  • Home
  • General News
    • Extractives
    • Auto
  • Business
    • Banking and Finance
    • AgriBusiness
    • Insurance
    • Mining
    • Oil and Gas
    • Real Estate/Housing
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • Agriculture
    • Maritime/Aviation
    • Energy
    • Education
    • Construction
  • Technology
    • ICT
    • Telecom
  • World
    • Africa
    • International
  • Editorial/Features
  • GSB Data Services
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • General News
    • Extractives
    • Auto
  • Business
    • Banking and Finance
    • AgriBusiness
    • Insurance
    • Mining
    • Oil and Gas
    • Real Estate/Housing
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • Agriculture
    • Maritime/Aviation
    • Energy
    • Education
    • Construction
  • Technology
    • ICT
    • Telecom
  • World
    • Africa
    • International
  • Editorial/Features
  • GSB Data Services
No Result
View All Result
Gold Business Logo
No Result
View All Result
Home World Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa: We Need to Act Now

July 3, 2021
in Africa, Top Stories
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Sub-Saharan Africa is in the grips of a third wave of COVID-19 infections that threatens to be even more brutal than the two that came before.

This is yet more evidence of a dangerous divergence in the global economy. One track for countries with good access to vaccines, where strong recoveries are taking hold. And another for those countries that are still waiting and at risk of falling further behind.

RELATED POSTS

Government expecting $1.2bn in IMF disbursement for 2023 –Dr Adam

Rationalising Decisions: The Psychology of Making Sense of the Nonsensical

The growth of infections in sub-Saharan Africa is now the fastest in the world, with an explosive trajectory that is outpacing the record set in the second wave. At this pace, this new wave will likely surpass previous peaks in a matter of days—and in some countries, infections are already more than double, or even triple, their January peaks. The latest (delta) variant—reportedly 60 percent more transmissible than earlier variants—has been detected in 14 countries.

When the pandemic first hit, quick action by policymakers helped prevent infection rates seen elsewhere around the world. But it pushed already strained local health systems to the breaking point. Only six months after the initial crisis, the region experienced a second wave that swiftly outpaced the scale and speed of the first. Now, another six months on, sub-Saharan Africa faces its third devastating wave.

The only way for the region to break free from this vicious pandemic cycle is to swiftly implement a widespread vaccination program.

A still-vulnerable region

The sheer speed of this third wave highlights the difficulty policymakers in sub‑Saharan Africa face in heading off a crisis once it gets under way. In Namibia, for example, new cases reached the previous January peak within only two weeks, and tripled another two weeks later. For many countries, by the time a new surge is identified, it may already be too late.

And the options employed during previous waves may no longer be feasible. The re-imposition of containment measures would likely come at too high an economic and social cost, and is simply unsustainable—and unenforceable—over a prolonged period.

Looking back, most sub-Saharan African countries entered the second wave in a more difficult economic position than the first, with shrinking fiscal resources to protect the vulnerable, additional millions thrown into poverty, and depleted household balance sheets. While some countries have taken steps to improve preparedness, unfortunately, very few have had sufficient resources—or time—to strengthen public health systems.

And, now, the scale of the current wave is once again threatening to overwhelm local health systems. News reports across the region point to overwhelmed hospitals. The sick are dying while waiting for a bed. Non-emergency surgeries have been canceled to preserve space for COVID-19 patients. And military hospitals have been opened for civilian use. Oxygen has become a key constraint, with supply already failing to keep up with the demand for critically-ill patients. The region’s scarce health workers continue to be at risk.

The risks of leaving Africa behind

The vaccine rollout in sub-Saharan Africa remains the slowest in the world. Less than 1 adult in every hundred is fully vaccinated, compared to an average of over 30 in more advanced economies. This means even most essential frontline workers continue to work unprotected. In this context, some of the world’s more fortunate countries have stockpiled enough vaccines to cover their populations many times over.

Without significant, upfront, international assistance—and without an effective region-wide vaccination effort—the near-term future of sub-Saharan Africa will be one of repeated waves of infection, which will exact an ever-increasing toll on the lives and livelihoods of the region’s most vulnerable, while also paralyzing investment, productivity, and growth. In short, without help the region risks being left further and further behind.

And the longer the pandemic is left to ravage Africa, the more likely it is that ever more dangerous variants of the disease will emerge. Vaccination is not simply an issue of local lives and livelihoods. It is also a global public good. For every country—everywhere—the most durable vaccine effort is one that covers everyone, in every country.

What can be done to speed up the vaccine effort?

IMF staff has put forward a global proposal that targets vaccinating at least 40 percent of the total population of all countries by end-2021, and at least 60 percent by the first half of 2022. Africa is expected to receive 30 percent vaccination coverage through COVAX and another 30 percent coverage through the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), established by the African Union under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

We see seven key steps to ensure these vaccination targets are met:

  • First, it is essential to deliver vaccines to sub‑Saharan Africa as soon as possible. Given that much of the global supply of vaccines for 2021 has already been bought up, many countries will be forced to wait until 2022 to get them. So, the fastest way to get vaccines to sub‑Saharan Africa is for advanced economies to share their stockpiles bilaterally or through multilateral initiatives. COVAX has already received pledges for over half a billion doses. But these need to turn into actual deliveries as soon as possible to make a difference. Indeed, the goal should be to get a quarter of a billion doses to the region by September.
  • Second, vaccine manufacturers should speed up supply to Africa for the rest of this year. Advanced economies with vaccine manufacturing capabilities should encourage their manufacturers to do so, especially when demand at home is falling short of supply.
  • Third, AVATT should be fully financed to ensure coverage of 30 percent of the African Union population. This requires an estimated $2 billion, that would for example allow AVATT to execute its optional contract of 180 million doses with J&J.
  • Fourth, remove cross-border export restrictions on raw materials and finished vaccines. This includes ensuring that the Aspen facility in South Africa—a key supplier to AVATT—is operational at full capacity, and resuming exports from the Serum Institute of India to COVAX. African vaccination plans rely heavily on these two facilities.
  • Fifth, financing of at least $2.5 billion and upfront planning will also be critical to ensure health systems can deliver shots-in-arm promptly as vaccine supply ramps up. Many countries in the region, including eSwatini, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, and Rwanda, have quickly and effectively administered their limited supplies. These countries, along with others in the region, have had to place their vaccine campaigns on hold as they wait for the arrival of the new supplies that they have recently procured at comparatively high cost or the donated supplies from other countries’ stockpiles. It is these shortages—rather than the ability to administer shots—that has so far been the biggest constraint. But when supply picks up, health systems must be prepared to vaccinate as many people as possible. And this is doable as the experience in many developing countries show—the likes of Seychelles, Mongolia, Bhutan, and Maldives impressively scaled-up vaccinations quickly once their vaccine supplies arrived.
  • Alongside vaccination efforts, countries must also ensure that their public health systems are able to handle an influx of cases. This includes accelerating the acquisition of vital COVID-19 health tools, including therapeutics, oxygen, and personal protective equipment. No matter what the speed of vaccinations, these supplies are needed now to help save lives. This will require urgent grant financing to pre-emptively procure and deliver a minimum package of critical COVID-19 Health Tools to address the rising health and economic costs arising from the surge in cases driven by the delta variant.
  • Finally, the magnitude of the region’s financing needs requires a coordinated effort on the part of the international community. Few countries have the fiscal space to finance this effort on their own, considering the region’s already elevated debt levels and already pressing spending needs. Most of the international community’s financial assistance will need to come in the form of grants or concessional loans. With our colleagues from the World Bank, WHO, WTO, and others, the IMF has formed a special task force to ensure that countries get the resources and vaccines they need.

As always, Africa can count on the IMF. We remain deeply committed to all countries in the region. We’ve ramped up our lending to sub‑Saharan Africa—last year it was more than 13 times our annual average—and support to increase our access limits will allow us to scale up our zero-interest lending capacity. And the unprecedented $650 billion new SDR allocation, far and away the largest in the Fund’s history, once approved will make $23 billion available to member countries in sub‑Saharan Africa.

Yet the gravity and urgency of the situation requires the global community working together. We all have a stake in this. So, in all countries—advanced and emerging alike—we can reclaim our physical and economic health from the pandemic. And so that sub‑Saharan Africa can resume its path toward a more prosperous future.

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
Source: blogs.imf.org
ShareTweetShare

Related Posts

Government expecting $1.2bn in IMF disbursement for 2023 –Dr Adam

Government expecting $1.2bn in IMF disbursement for 2023 –Dr Adam

May 15, 2023
Rationalising Decisions: The Psychology of Making Sense of the Nonsensical

Rationalising Decisions: The Psychology of Making Sense of the Nonsensical

May 15, 2023

44% of Ghana’s workforce multidimensionally poor

May 9, 2023
Fitch Solutions forecasts 43% depreciation of cedi to dollar in 2022

Cedi to end 2023 at ¢12.40 to a dollar – Fitch Solutions

May 9, 2023
“How Did I Get Here” premieres on GHOne TV & DSTV Channel 361

“How Did I Get Here” premieres on GHOne TV & DSTV Channel 361

May 9, 2023
Next Post

A peep into Obiba Sly’s highlife world

SSNIT/NIA number merger: SSNIT complies with NPRA’s directives

Discussion about this post

Archives

<
May 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
▼
>
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    
       
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
       
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
       
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728     
       
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
       
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930    
       
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
       
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    
       
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
       
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930   
       
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930 
       
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031   
       
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28      
       
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
       
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     
       
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
       
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930   
       
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
       
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930    
       
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
       
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    
       
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
       
       
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
       
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031   
       
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
       
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930    
       
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
       
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     
       
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
       
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930   
       
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
242526272829 
       
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
       
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930 
       
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031   
       
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
       
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    
       
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
       
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
       
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     
       
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
       
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728   
       
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031   
       
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
       
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    
       
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
       
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
       
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930 
       
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031   
       
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
       

RECOMMENDED

Government expecting $1.2bn in IMF disbursement for 2023 –Dr Adam

Government expecting $1.2bn in IMF disbursement for 2023 –Dr Adam

May 15, 2023
Rationalising Decisions: The Psychology of Making Sense of the Nonsensical

Rationalising Decisions: The Psychology of Making Sense of the Nonsensical

May 15, 2023

MOST VIEWED

Plugin Install : Popular Post Widget need JNews - View Counter to be installed
  • Energy
  • Health
  • Auto
  • International
  • Subscription Form
  • Staff Webmail
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Call us: +233 24 432 0902 | info@goldstreetbusiness.com

© Copyright © 2020 goldstreetbusiness.com. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Homepage Layout 1
    • Homepage Layout 2
  • World
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Health

© Copyright © 2020 goldstreetbusiness.com. All Rights Reserved.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.