Af rican economic prospects are part of the collateral damage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), sub-Saharan countries were starting to recover economically from the Covid-19 fallout, with average gross domestic product growth of 4.7% in 2021.This is expected to have dropped by more than a percentage point to 3.6% due to the global slowdown, tighter global financial conditions, and a dramatic pickup in global inf lation, according to Abebe Aemro Selassie, director, IMF African Department.“Global inf lation has turned out to be higher and more persistent than expected, prompting a cost-of-living squeeze for most households and a general tightening of monetary policies worldwide.“In addition, global prices for key commodities are increasingly volatile, while the lingering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to weigh on economic activity,” he said at the release of the forecast.The IMF projections come after the African Development Bank warned earlier in the year in its African Economic Outlook that the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war could leave a lasting impression over several years, “if not as much as a decade”.In addition to reduced demand, freight and logistics companies may have to deal with increased security risks as hunger drives people to crime.The Af DB estimates that about 30 million people in Africa were pushed into extreme poverty in 2021 and about 22 million jobs were lost in the same year because of the pandemic. And the trend is expected to continue through the second half of 2022 and on into 2023.“The near-term outlook is extremely uncertain as the region’s prospects are tied to developments in the global economy, with a number of countries facing difficult sociopolitical and security situations at home,” the IMF warns.
