Africa’s children are paying for COVID-19 with their futures
Format
By Matthew Cummins and Paul Quarles van Ufford
Dakar and Nairobi While the global spotlight remains firmly fixed on the battle against COVID-19 in wealthy countries, the life and death challenges faced by populations in developing nations, especially children, have steadily worsened over the past 12 months, largely in darkness and with only tokenistic support from global institutions.
COVID-19 has spared no country. But for people living in sub-Saharan Africa, the pandemic magnifies a long list of troubles. Start with economic growth. Before the pandemic struck, the economy was moving so slowly that it would have taken the average person around 45 years to double their income. Then, almost instantly, nearly 15 years of income progress disappeared. Even more troubling, sub-Saharan Africa will be the world s slowest growing region in 2021: barely 1 per cent on a per capita basis.
The child of Nyagai Jany, born when she was 17, is growing up in a country that has to spend 11 times more on debt service than on education. (Photo: Alissa Everett, UNICEF/EVERETT/SouthSudan)
Smart debt relief is needed in sub-Saharan Africa where 16 of the poorest governments were spending more on servicing debt than on all social sectors combined before Covid-19, write
Matthew Cummins and
Paul Quarles van Ufford.
While the global spotlight remains firmly fixed on the battle against Covid-19 in wealthy countries, the life and death challenges faced by populations in developing countries, especially children, have steadily worsened over the past 12 months, mainly in darkness and with only tokenistic support from global institutions.