NAIROBI — While African nations have largely been spared the more extreme health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic — such as overwhelmed health systems — the continent stands to be the most affected by the economic impacts of the pandemic because of its overreliance on external flows, Rabah Arezki, chief economist and vice-president of economic governance and knowledge management at the African Development Bank, told Devex.
Key to the recovery from the pandemic will be maintaining and expanding the economic and social safety net systems, at least until a vaccine is rolled out across the continent, Arezki said.
“We need to extend these for a few more months until we cross that bridge to the vaccine,” he said.