{"id":7127,"date":"2020-06-04T12:14:20","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T12:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/?post_type=mec-events&p=7127"},"modified":"2020-06-04T12:23:54","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T12:23:54","slug":"addressing-the-social-and-economic-shock-of-covid-19-on-african-economies-a-conversation-with-dr-albert-zeufack","status":"publish","type":"mec-events","link":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/event\/addressing-the-social-and-economic-shock-of-covid-19-on-african-economies-a-conversation-with-dr-albert-zeufack\/","title":{"rendered":"Addressing the Social and Economic Shock of COVID-19 on African Economies: A Conversation with Dr. Albert Zeufack"},"content":{"rendered":"

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June 17, 2020<\/strong>\u00a0at 3 \u2013 4PM\u00a0Washington D.C Time<\/strong>
8 \u2013 9PM Cameroon Time<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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  1. \n

    Background<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Covid-19 pandemic is the worse health crisis that has plagued the world since the outbreak of the Spanish Flu of 1918-1919, and the most challenging crisis the world has faced since the Second World War. The pandemic has caused severe economic repercussions in many countries, in addition to the health consequences with regards to mortality and morbidity. It has brought the global economy to a standstill as all forms of economic activity have been significantly interrupted to curtail the spread of the virus.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the African continent has not escaped the health and economic devastation of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

    In Africa, the economic, social, and health problems brought by this pandemic further strain economies which have been struggling to recover from the impacts of a drastic fall in oil and commodity prices since 2014.\u00a0 According to the World Bank\u2019s biannual\u00a0Africa\u2019s Pulse\u00a0report, economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, is expected to decline from 2.4% in 2019 to between -2.1 and -5.1% in 2020. The region, the report predicts, will experience its first economic recession in the last 25 years. If adequate macroeconomic measures are not taken and quickly, the recession will undoubtedly lead to an economic depression. However, the depth of the recession will depend on the success of measures taken to mitigate its effects.\u00a0 Thus, critical analysis of the macroeconomic state of African economies amid the COVID-19 pandemic and brainstorming on the most effective policy options are urgently needed to not only cushion the economic pain but also lay the framework for a robust and inclusive recovery.<\/p>\n

    2. The overall goal of this event<\/h3>\n