{"id":17577,"date":"2022-07-04T15:08:34","date_gmt":"2022-07-04T15:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/fighting-covid-19-in-africas-most-vulnerable-states-needs-grants-not-loans"},"modified":"2022-07-04T15:32:17","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T15:32:17","slug":"fighting-covid-19-in-africas-most-vulnerable-states-needs-grants-not-loans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/fighting-covid-19-in-africas-most-vulnerable-states-needs-grants-not-loans","title":{"rendered":"Fighting COVID-19 in Africa\u2019s most vulnerable states needs grants not loans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span><\/a>Home to most of the world’s low-income economies, Africa was bound to be the least equipped to fight coronavirus.
\nAs the continent struggles to stop the spread of the disease, African countries have imposed various forms of lockdowns that include restricting movement and closing borders. Poor African countries do not have the means to launch the massive stimulus packages seen in rich economies.
\nLacking the financial resources of rich countries such as Canada, the US, Germany or the UK, which have all launched massive stimulus programs amounting to more than $5tn, low-income African countries look to donors for help.
\nAlready we saw the IMF taking the lead. On 3 April, the IMF\u2019s Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, announced that nearly 80 countries had already requested assistance and that the fund is ready to deploy its $1tn in lending capacity.<\/p>\n

So far, four African countries, namely Rwanda, Madagascar, Togo, and Sierra Leone, have received IMF loans to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. In the case of Rwanda, the IMF approved a loan of $109.4m in light of the country\u2019s dire economic circumstances.<\/p>\n

According to the IMF, \u201cthe COVID-19 pandemic has ground Rwanda\u2019s economy to a halt. \u201d The loan will among other things prevent the depletion of Rwanda\u2019s international reserves.<\/p>\n

The IMF concluded, however, that its support to Rwanda is not enough given the scale of the economic impact. The fund hopes that its financing will catalyze further assistance for Rwanda from the international community, preferably in the form of grants.<\/p>\n

In Madagascar, the IMF approved a loan of $165.9m. The crisis is having a severe impact on Madagascar\u2019s economy, especially in the sectors the country relies on most.<\/p>\n

Tourism is facing a dramatic decline, while mining, manufacturing, and trade are barely functional. The most vulnerable among Madagascar\u2019s population of 25 million needs donations of staple foods.
\nThe private sector needs support, and the financial sector urgently needs liquidity to preserve stability. As is the case for Rwanda, the IMF sees its support of Madagascar as being no more than a catalyst for additional donor financing.
\nTogo received an immediate disbursement of $131.3m; an amount of which the IMF says is almost four times larger than previously foreseen. The IMF adds that Togo\u2019s substantial financing gaps are expected to widen due to three factors: revenue loss, higher healthcare spending, and weaker exports.<\/p>\n

The dramatic onset of the COVID\u201119 pandemic poses significant near\u2011term risks for Sierra Leone, the IMF says. The economic fallout of the crisis and protecting the health of Sierra Leoneans are its immediate priorities.
\nThe recurrent theme in the IMF\u2019s description of the COVID-19 challenges in low-income countries is that the fund\u2019s loans are not enough. It remains to be seen whether donor countries that normally provide substantial grants, including the US, the European Union, and Britain are willing to do so during their own shutdowns.
\nThe UK has so far led the way by contributing \u00a3150m ($186m) to the IMF\u2019s Catastrophe and Containment Relief Trust. The Bottom Line: The IMF financing is merely a catalyst.
\nWithout additional donor grants \u2013 as opposed to loans \u2013 the pandemic in countries such as Rwanda, Madagascar, Togo and Sierra Leone can only mean one thing: millions of lives are at risk from both the disease and eventually hunger.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. Home to most of the world’s low-income economies, Africa was bound to be the least equipped to fight coronavirus. As the continent struggles to stop the spread of the disease, African countries have imposed various forms of lockdowns that include restricting movement and closing borders. Poor African countries do not have the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":17576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,16],"tags":[242,233,245,241],"class_list":["post-17577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-mauritius"],"yoast_head":"\nFighting COVID-19 in Africa\u2019s most vulnerable states needs grants not loans - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Home to most of the world's low-income economies, Africa was bound to be the least equipped ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/fighting-covid-19-in-africas-most-vulnerable-states-needs-grants-not-loans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fighting COVID-19 in Africa\u2019s most vulnerable states needs grants not loans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Home to most of the world's low-income economies, Africa was bound to be the least equipped ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/fighting-covid-19-in-africas-most-vulnerable-states-needs-grants-not-loans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-04T15:08:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-04T15:32:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_4-62c307bdec44e.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"732\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"419\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/fighting-covid-19-in-africas-most-vulnerable-states-needs-grants-not-loans#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/fighting-covid-19-in-africas-most-vulnerable-states-needs-grants-not-loans\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Fighting COVID-19 in Africa\u2019s most vulnerable states needs grants not loans\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-04T15:08:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-04T15:32:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/fighting-covid-19-in-africas-most-vulnerable-states-needs-grants-not-loans\"},\"wordCount\":576,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/fighting-covid-19-in-africas-most-vulnerable-states-needs-grants-not-loans#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_4-62c307bdec44e.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa\",\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mauritius\",\"Mauritius\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/fighting-covid-19-in-africas-most-vulnerable-states-needs-grants-not-loans#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/fighting-covid-19-in-africas-most-vulnerable-states-needs-grants-not-loans\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/fighting-covid-19-in-africas-most-vulnerable-states-needs-grants-not-loans\",\"name\":\"Fighting COVID-19 in Africa\u2019s most vulnerable states needs grants not loans - 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