Till now, some countries in sub-Saharan Africa have officially been affected by the COVID-19 disease including Nigeria and Senegal which were the first sub-Sahara African countries affected by the virus. But the economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak are already being experienced on the continent.
In Africa, dread of a COVID-19 epidemic is growing. The economy is also in convulsion: no one knows how the magnitude of the economic damage caused by the little-researched coronavirus will be. Small African companies that import food, technology or clothing from China the country of origin of the COVID-19 virus are already feeling the effects of the crisis.
If companies in the Far East remain closed or restrictions are imposed on Africans travelling to China, customers in Africa will be left out in the cold. Sales are falling dramatically. African exporters also fear the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak: China is Africa’s largest market for crude oil and other raw materials.
Nigerian authorities detected about 100 people who may have been close to an Italian who is considered to be the first coronavirus patient in the country.
The salesman of cement company Lafarge Africa PLC arrived in Nigeria’s economic metropolis, Lagos, on February 24 by plane from Milan. He was being treated in a hospital in the Yaba district of Lagos where it is understood that 39 people who have been in direct contact with the man were also being quarantined.
Despite the company announcing that its cement production lines remained open, there were fears that the virus could spread rapidly in a region where healthcare systems are already overwhelmed with cases of malaria, measles and Ebola. There are also other potential infection routes: Nigeria maintains intensive trade relations, especially with China.
No other country in Africa consumes more Chinese products than Nigeria.
The operator of a currency exchange office, according to his own statement, has suffered considerable losses in recent days: “People are no longer coming to the exchange office to buy foreign currency because nobody wants to travel to China. They are all afraid to come into contact with the virus, so many avoid touching bank notes at all.”
Many business people in the region canceled overseas trips. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the import of Chinese products has declined noticeably. There are even sporadic shortages.
Zimbabwe’s struggling economy is not only heavily depending on cheap imports from China, said the importer. Zimbabwe mainly exports ores and other raw materials worth almost €900 million ($1,000 million) to China which is thus by far Zimbabwe’s largest sales market. South Africa, Great Britain, India and Zambia follow far behind. Zimbabwe is one of 21 African countries that are dependent on the sale of raw materials to China.
The major part of the continent and also the globe were simultaneously detected this virus and hits global economy down.
Somaliland and other Somali people in the Horn of Africa will experience the same situation as the other African nations and this virus were detected neighboring countries like Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Somaliland government also banned ceremonies and other meetings, also stopped education for four weeks in order to avoid spread of this horrible virus
About the author,
Mousse Abdi;
Email: Muuze438@gmail.com
