African Development Bank COVID-19 Response
The COVID-19 pandemic is forecast to cause Africas' GDP to drop by between $22.1 billion and $88.3 billion.
African country's experience of having fought off Ebola is working to adapt this new threat and looking to the Bank for an effective multilateral response to the crisis.
Moving from a commitment to action
The African Development Bank has responded swiftly to the needs of its member countries during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bank’s operations have continued to run smoothly since the first cases appeared in early March, despite the widening range of lockdowns and measures imposed by governments to flatten the curve.
The COVID-19 pandemic is forecast to cause Africa’s GDP to drop by between $22.1 billion and $88.3 billion. African country's experience of having fought off Ebola is working to adapt this new threat and looking to the Bank for an effective multilateral response to the crisis.
As of June 12, the Bank’s COVID-19 emergency packages have reached the continent’s five geographic regions.
West Africa
Before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, West Africa was home to at least four of the continent’s fastest-growing economies, and it has felt the impact of the disease hard, as borders remain closed and economic and social distress deepens.
Gambia, Mali, and Niger will benefit from an ECOWAS support package to bolster national health systems in response to the pandemic. Much of the funds to this region will seek to address shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and other emergency equipment. The support will also enable governments to provide shortfall cash to the millions of people who have been affected by mass layoffs or are unable to work because of lockdowns.
Nigeria – 288.5 million euros
Senegal – 88 million euros
Côte d’Ivoire – 75 million euros
Cabo Verde – 30 million euros
ECOWAS – $22 million
North Africa
The North African region is the worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 60,000 cases as of 12 June. The disease has already triggered a sharp drop in household incomes in North Africa, as export and tourism earnings suffer. The region will be assisted with a series of emergency operations to boost containment measures and help to ensure the supply and distribution of laboratory tests and reagents. The package will also support national and regional coordination mechanisms.
Morocco – 264 million euros
Tunisia – 180 million euros
Egypt – $500,000
East Africa
East Africa, the continent’s fastest-growing region economically, has been simultaneously struck by the coronavirus outbreak and an infestation of desert locusts, a double whammy for the region’s farmers and economies.
In a region of climate change and water scarcity, post-harvest losses and poorly developed agricultural markets could threaten the promise of economic reforms and investment.
Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda are the top-performing countries, which have all seen a sharp fall in tourism revenue.
Kenya – 188 million euros
Southern Africa
A decisive lockdown has been effective in stemming the spread of COVID-19 in the region’s economic powerhouse, South Africa. The spreading of the virus is by no means curtailed. Measures taken across the region to contain the pandemic have affected millions of people, many of whom work in the informal economy.
Assistance in this region comes in the form of preventive and protective measures.
Mauritius – 188 million euros
Zimbabwe – $13.7 million
Central Africa
In Central Africa, Cameroon has reported over 8,000 cases as of 12 June and significant community transmission.
The package approved for this region, $13.5 million, will target the provision of PPEs, testing kits, and healthcare and laboratory facilities, for Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, which is among the countries with the least number of ventilators on the continent.
CEMAC/RDC – $13.5 million
Timeline of COVID-19 support:
The Bank’s rollout of emergency response support to assist African countries began in March and has provided a package of financial relief and preparedness and response assistance.
March 27: The Bank raised $3 billion from the Fight COVID-19 Social Bond, the Largest dollar-denominated social bond ever launched in international capital markets. Proceeds from the Bond, with a three-year maturity, will help alleviate the impact of the pandemic on livelihoods and Africa’s economies.
April 2: The Bank provided $2 million in emergency assistance to the World Health Organization (WHO) to bolster the capacity of member countries on infection prevention, testing, and case management. WHO Africa will also boost surveillance systems, procure and distribute laboratory test kits, and support coordination at national and regional levels.
April 8: The Bank announced a COVID-19 Response Facility that will provide up to $10 billion to African governments and the private sector to tackle the disease and mitigate the suffering that results from the economic downturn and job losses.
AfDB President Arrived In Freetown
The visit presents an opportunity to deepen discussions on several fronts, and in particular, how the African Development Bank (AfDB) assists Sierra Leone to implement the 2019-2023 National Development Plan focuses on human capital development.
The visit presents an opportunity to deepen discussions on several fronts
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Dr. Akinwumi Adesina assured Sierra Leone the Bank is supportive of the country’s development agenda. He made the statement to the media shortly upon his arrival in Freetown, on Wednesday 11 March 2020.
He is here to see the President and most importantly to offer support to Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is a very important country to AfDB, as Sierra Leone is a founder member of the bank and we have been financing projects and programs in Sierra Leone since 1967, he said.
Highlighting some of the development projects in Sierra Leone in different sectors that the bank has financed, in Agriculture, Energy, Water, and Sanitation, Infrastructure and other sectors. Noting that the current project portfolio is around USD 758 million.
Like many other African countries, there are lots of challenges that the country is faced with and commended the government so far in addressing those challenges.
His first official visit to Sierra Leone since he became President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), noting that he is delighted to be here.
The visit presents an opportunity to deepen discussions on several fronts, and in particular, how the African Development Bank (AfDB) assists Sierra Leone to implement the 2019-2023 National Development Plan focuses on human capital development. Dr. Adesina continued that he had a conversation with President Julius Maada Bio during the African Union Submit in February 2020, in which the President talked about his reforms, and assured the President will visit Sierra Leone to discuss more.
The Minister of Finance, Jacob Jusu Saffa, in his remark welcoming Dr. Akinwumi Adesina to Sierra Leone, and expressed the government’s gratitude that amidst the international health crisis of the Corona Virus, the President decides to proceed with this visit. The continuous visits of high profile personnel within international development partner organizations, not only a sign of cordial relationship the government of Sierra Leone has with its partners but also demonstrates, the government of Sierra Leone on the right development trajectory.
Dr. Adesina will have the opportunity to get first-hand information from critical stakeholders of the state on the development priorities, progress, and challenges that will allow him to support the financing of projects and programs that will resonate with the aspirations of the people of Sierra Leone.
During his visit, he will be meeting with the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio, Minister of Finance, Jacob Jusu Saffa, Ministers of Government, Heads of Government agency, and other development partners.
Dr. Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina is the 8th President of the African Development Bank Group, was elected to office May 28, 2015, by the Bank Board of Governors at its Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. A distinguished development economist and agricultural development expert with 25 years of international experience. He is the first Nigerian to serve as President of the Bank Group.
He served as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2011 to 2015, during which time he implemented bold policy reforms in the fertilizer sector and pursued innovative agricultural investment programs to expand opportunities for the private sector.
The Director-General Marie-Laure Akin-Ologbade, Executive Director Kenyah Barley, AfDB Country Manager for Ethiopia, Abdul Kamara, and other staff of the Bank accompanied the President of AfDB.