News:
March 9, 2022
The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on economies in Africa calls for diversified growth and job creation with the focus on youth, women and the poor in marginalised areas. This is according to the Vice President of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians Association (CPA) International and Majority leader of Ghana’s Parliament.
Speaking at the 82nd Executive Committee Meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) – Africa Region, in Accra on Tuesday March 8, 2022, he said stringent efforts must be made in a structured manner to increase domestic revenue mobilisation and improve the quality of public expenditures and the strengthening of debt management.
He stated that, the COVID-19 crisis has hugely eroded the significant gains that the continent has chalked in the implementation of policies towards the attainment of the United Nations’ prescribed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Africa Union’s Agenda 2063 and many other such international as well as national goals.
“According to an Expert Report of the United Nations, the COVID-19 pandemic is | expected to push an additional 30 million people into extreme poverty in the Africa region. Yet, vaccination which science has informed us could turn things around remains extremely low when compared to other continents. Less than 2°o of Africa’s population is fully vaccinated.
The crisis has exacerbated the demand for public goods and services in recent times. The demands for good roads, water, electricity, housing and employment of youth, among other demands by the citizens have been on the rise and yet delivery has been seriously undermined by the impact of the COVID-19.”
More worrying, he opined is the fact that he crisis has also shaken the foundations of the ideals of our democracy. “We all witnessed how challenging it was for our democratic institutions to find a balance between management of public health and the right to personal liberties; the right to protest; and conduct of democratic elections to elect political leaders.
At the height of the pandemic food production and food security came under intense threat. Industrial production was negatively impacted with industry performing minimally and scaling down on employment. Many were rendered jobless. Tax revenue for government slumped and the cost of import escalated. National debts ballooned and debt servicing has become burdensome for most developing economies.”
Mr. Kyei-Mensah Bonsu thus believe that the crisis present the Commonwealth Member States an opportunity to “view the crisis and the increasing demands from the people as an opportunity to map out a different developmental trajectory that is more sustainable, and more inclusive.
“Fortunately, the Commonwealth is blessed with a ready-made network spanning a diverse range of countries, making it ideally placed to help tackle these global challenges”, he stated.
Ghanamps.com