Why 39M Africans May Fall Into Poverty This Year – Adesina

Why 39M Africans May Fall Into Poverty This Year - Adesina
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina
WhatsApp
Facebook
Twitter
Telegram
LinkedIn
Print

President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has revealed why he believes that another 39 million people in the continent could fall into poverty at the end of this year.

Speaking at the ongoing virtual Africa Singapore Business Forum. Adesina stated the 39 million people he is referring to could pass on as an added number to 30 million individuals rendered poor by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to him, the ‘people impact’ is the worst negative consequence of the pandemic, with 30 million jobs lost and inflation spiraling out of control.

Read Also: Nigerians Deserve Wealth, Not Poverty – Akinwumi Adesina

‘The debt also began to accumulate. The debt to gross domestic product (GDP) went up to between 60 and 70 per cent. But that is just on the financial side. I am more bothered about the people’s impact,’ he noted.

On the bright side, he said 85 per cent of operators in the special economic zones of Africa believed that the foreign direct investment (FDI) flow to the continent would rise significantly again while 90 percent outside Africa believed the same.

Adesina said Africa holds the key to the global economy with enormous opportunity for return on investment (RoI), stressing that those who do not invest in Africa would probably not invest at all. He added that the continent has improved tremendously in the ease of doing business.

The development banker, however, said poor infrastructure had blighted the potential of the continental economy but that recent investments by AfDB and other stakeholders are reversing the story. He called for ‘resilient and quality’ infrastructure to make Africa truly attractive to the rest of the world.

He pointed out that innovation, in every sphere of economy, would help Africa to reduce the cost of business operation and make it more efficient, noting that Singapore would be very useful to Africa in achieving innovation and energy efficiency.

The minister said the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) need incentives to help them export to the rest of the world. Credit, he said, ‘is very important to achieving this’. In doing this, he said, and innovation that will increase banks’ ability to assess the creditworthiness of SMEs would necessarily be put in place.

AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK

WhatsApp
Facebook
Twitter
Telegram
LinkedIn
Print