Economic affairs analyst for Africa at the United Nations Helena Afonso said on Sunday that the UN expects Mozambique to grow just 1.7% this year, and then accelerate to 2.7% in 2021.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is derailing the incipient economic recovery, given lower coal production and weak agricultural production,” Helena Afonso told Lusa in an interview.
“GDP growth is expected to stand at 1.7% this year and at 2.7% in 2021,” she added, warning however that “these projections may be revised downwards in the short term”.
For the UN, “fiscal relief measures are needed at this point, but the limited budgetary margin and the effects of the 2016 debt crisis limit the country’s capacity”.
Afonso also stressed that foreign aid will be very important for African countries in general.
“Solidarity will be very important, not only between African countries, but also solidarity from the rest of the world. However, and contrary to this, we see that some countries have restricted exports of food and medical supplies, which are crucial imports in Africa to fight the virus.”
“At the UN, we see the situation as somewhat worrying. Africa has a the potential for a large number of cases, and is one of the regions where the number of cases is growing the most despite the measures in force. Capacity is more constrained, but so far it remains one of the least affected regions in terms of the number of cases and deaths,” she said.
“Unfortunately, even before facing a general health crisis, most countries had already entered an economic one. Many were still recovering from the 2014 crisis and were in a difficult situation when they entered the pandemic, which is therefore a very big test of the resilience of Africa and Africans,” Afonso added in the telephone interview with Lusa from UN headquarters in New York.
Source: Lusa via Club of Mozambique
