“This report systematically reconstructs and analyses the state and non-state responses to COVID-19 in Ghana and their impact on the wellbeing of Ghana’s poor and vulnerable, more specifically Kayayei in Accra, residents of Chorkor in Accra and market women in Bolgatanga.”
“This report examines the impact of the state and non-state COVID-19 responses on the wellbeing of Rwanda’s poor, specifically: taxi-velo drivers, taxi-moto drivers, market women and the elderly.”
“COVID-19 and related challenges provide an impetus for central bank and capital market regulators to engage with industry, to explore the viability of creating new trade financing capacity via the participation of asset managers and private equity in directing capital to the financing of international trade—including South-South trade and African trade.”
“Today, the earlier fear of a dangerous lack of liquidity has been replaced in large part by concerns about the ability of the international financial architecture to support countries with increasing levels of debt and uncertain access to capital. One worrisome aspect seems clear: Many countries will require debt relief in the next few years if they are to maintain or restore access to financial flows. Higher interest rates in advanced economies, and the United States in particular, could compound the difficulties of emerging market countries in servicing existing debt and refinancing maturing debt.”
“Across the region, the devastating impact of armed conflict in countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Cameroon, and Nigeria, was compounded by the pandemic as a number of states weaponized it to crack down on human rights. The crackdowns included killings of civilians and arrests of opposition politicians and supporters and human rights defenders and activists in countries such as Angola, Guinea, and Uganda.”
“National and international restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19 led to an economic downturn in Ethiopia which is likely to have pushed an additional 15 million people below the poverty line.”
“China is the world’s largest official creditor, but we lack basic facts about the terms and conditions of its lending. Very few contracts between Chinese lenders and their government borrowers have ever been published or studied. This paper is the first systematic analysis of the legal terms of China’s foreign lending.”
“An in-depth analysis of Cameroon, Ecuador, Egypt and Nigeria and found mixed results in meeting the IMF’s transparency commitments. There remained inconsistencies in the types of measures to which governments committed, their implementation, and the role of the IMF in ensuring compliance. The transparency commitments in the emergency loans spurred all four governments to produce information about their spending and contracts that they would have otherwise not published. However, the amount, accessibility, and quality of the disclosed information varied widely and was inadequate for meaningful oversight for any of the four countries.”
“The net health effect of COVID-19 lockdowns in South Africa cannot yet be assessed because causes of death data have not been made available. There is reason to anticipate significant future health consequences of lockdown.”
“The lockdown reduced access to health services while institutional mortality fell due to reduced number of patients. There is need to emphasize other mitigation measures rather than lockdowns.”
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