Pandemic may sweep away 20m jobs in Africa

The African Union warns that up to 20 million people could lose their jobs as the coronavirus makes ever deeper inroads into the continent.

The risks to national economies were set out in a report, "Impact of the Coronavirus on the African Economy", which was released on Monday.

The document also raised the specter of social unrest resulting from the turmoil.

The report focuses on the possible socio-economic repercussions of the outbreak in order to propose policy recommendations for implementation at a time when the pandemic is at an early stage in Africa.

"The coronavirus pandemic has revealed that African countries are extremely exposed to external shocks," the report says. "A paradigm shift is needed in order to change the trade patterns of African countries within themselves and with the rest of world. particularly with China, Europe, the USA and other emerging countries."

The African Union notes that tumbling oil prices will disrupt the economies of the major oil-producing countries, such as Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana and Nigeria. The report singles out Nigeria and Angola, which draw up their budgets on the basis of oil trading at $67 a barrel. With prices dropping below $30 a barrel, many countries are staring at sharp budget deficits.