African cities need support to ease impact
With increasing urbanization in Africa, a United Nations agency wants to see countries pay particular attention to ensuring their cities can cope with the economic impact of efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa made the call as African governments step up their actions to counter the outbreak, including with economic stimulus.
“As engines and drivers of economic growth, cities face considerable risks in light of the coronavirus with implications for the continent’s resilience to the pandemic,” said Thokozile Ruzvidzo, director of the gender, poverty and social policy division of the commission.
The agency said city governments should be supported in their efforts to respond to the economic effects of the coronavirus, in addition to the immediate health and humanitarian needs.
Africa’s cities are home to 600 million people and account for half of the continent’s GDP and even more than 70 percent in some countries like Botswana, Uganda, Tunisia and Kenya, the UN agency said.
A third of national GDP comes on average from the largest city in an African country. As such, the economic contribution of cities in the region is far higher than their share of the population.
The agency said the urban-based sectors of the economy — including manufacturing and services, which account for 64 percent of GDP in Africa — are expected to be hit hard by the effects of the outbreak. This will lead to substantial losses in productive jobs.
The UN agency said firms and businesses in African cities are highly vulnerable to coronavirus-related effects, especially small and mediumsized enterprises. which account for 80 percent of employment in Africa.
Urban consumption and expenditure is likely to experience a sharp fall due to virus-related lockdowns and restrictions.
Ruzvidzo said Africa’s cities drive consumption with their growing middle class. Per capita consumption spending in large cities is on average 80 percent higher at the city level than at the national level.
1 million tests
On the medical front, the head of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that more than 1 million coronavirus tests will be rolled out from next week to address the “big gap” in assessing the true number of cases on the continent. One projection is for more than 10 million severe cases of the virus in the next six months, John Nkengasong said.
“Maybe 15 million tests” will be required in Africa over the next three months, he said.
Africa has suffered in the global race to obtain testing kits and other badly needed medical equipment. The number of virus cases across the continent rose above 17,000 on Thursday. Health officials said the testing shortage means there are more out there.