UN's Vera Songwe calls on African leaders to build resilience

Leaders in Africa must focus on building resilience to a broad range of issues in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which proved that systems across the continent are inadequate, according to Vera Songwe, the executive secretary at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

“Crises are a fork in the road. You can crumble under their weight or build solid resilience, which propels you further into a more secure and sustainable future,” she said Wednesday during the 40th ordinary session of the African Union's executive council.

The continent faces formidable challenges related to climate change, infectious diseases, conflict, and cybersecurity — exacerbated by depressed economic growth, widespread unemployment, and a shrinking civic space.

The economic costs of managing the pandemic have been steep, according to Songwe. In African nations, the ratio of debt to gross domestic product has risen from 40% in 2014 to nearly 70%, she said. While four African nations were at high risk of debt distress in 2014, that number has now risen to 17, Songwe added. According to a UNECA spokesperson, six countries — the Republic of Congo, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe are already in debt distress.

She said the “more devastating human crisis simmering” is the swelling number of people living with food insecurity, which impacts 1 in 5 Africans. The number of undernourished people on the continent has reached 282 million. Meanwhile, world food prices hit their highest levels in a decade last year.

“The rising food prices pose threats to our purchasing power but also cause social unrest,” Songwe said. Low-income economies lose at least 3% to 16% of gross domestic product annually due to malnutrition, even though feeding Africa’s young people can be seen as an investment, with every dollar that goes toward nutrition yielding $16 in returns for health and productivity.

This food insecurity weighs heavily on the continent’s future, as malnourishment stunts cognitive development.

“Our most powerful insurance policy must be a healthy population capable of developing mitigating solutions for the impending risks that we face as we move into the future,” Songwe said.

Many of Africa's staple foods are likely to see severe reductions because of climate change, including an expected 22% reduction in yield in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050, she said.

One way of building resilience will be to leverage and effectively implement the African Continental Free Trade Area, creating more interconnected systems to feed populations.

Another is to strengthen African financial institutions. While the continent secured $33.6 billion when the International Monetary Fund issued a new batch of the reserve assets known as Special Drawing Rights, this figure falls far short of what is needed for African countries to grow sustainably at over 6% per year, Songwe said.

“As we seek to access foreign markets, we must also build and strengthen our capital markets and increase our efforts towards financial inclusion,” she said.

Update, Feb. 3, 2022: This article has been updated to clarify that six African countries are currently in debt distress and with crop yield reduction predictions.