Experts proffer measures to mitigate COVID-19

By Daniel Essiet

Experts have called on the government to accelerate reforms that will support domestic investments and boost trade and private sector growth in order to mitigate macroeconomic challenges due to COVID 19-pandemic.

Experts said government needs to implement measures to reduce financial stresses and balance of payments challenges while calling for deliberate policies to attract investors to the real sector of the economy.

A Senior Lecturer at University of Ibadan (UI), Dr Thomas Adesina said Nigerian economy needs deliberate measures that will ensure its growth is driven by domestic investments and consumption.

According to him, for the economy to grow, government needs to create a conducive environment for the kind of economic development that millions of Nigerians will need and deserve.

“Life will never remain same post COVID-19. This calls for policy reform in all sectors of the economy.  Poverty reduction reform should begin with targeting the poorest of the poor and vulnerable, deliberate capacity building in agricultural and rural development, small business and market development.  In essence, Nigerian economy should be driven by agriculture across the value chain,” Adesina said.

Delegates at an African Development Institute (ADI) webinar urged that global response to the COVID-19 pandemic be coordinated and targeted at livelihoods to prevent an upsurge in inequality.

“This is an opportunity to rethink macroeconomic policy in Africa. We should not go back to our old ways. The sense of urgency that is coming from the crisis must translate into accelerated action on things that will make our continent less dependent on others in times like this. We should aim not only to build back the economy, but to build back better,” the speakers recommended.

The delegates called on African leaders to use the urgency created by the pandemic to accelerate investments, boost regional integration and deepen local financial markets to withstand future shocks as envisaged under the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement.

COVID-19 is spreading quickly in Africa and is already straining the continent’s fragile health systems, economies, trade, cultures, societies and livelihoods.

Africa’s public and private sectors, individuals and communities are struggling to respond to the pandemic amid commercial lockdowns and disruption of income sources.

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It is estimated that Africa will require stimulus worth $110-$150 billion to provide social and economic relief to its economies in the wake of the pandemic.

The webinar, titled Enhancing Resilience in African Economies: Macro-Economic Policy Responses to COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa, sought to address the implications for African economies as many nations scrambled together fiscal stimulus packages to avoid total economic collapse.

The panellists, comprising global leaders, researchers, academics, former finance ministers and central bank governors, explored potential fiscal, monetary and governance reforms that would bolster resilience of African economies.

Key recommendations that emerged include the need for innovative fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies that focus on saving the livelihoods of citizens, rescuing thriving private investments, including small businesses, to protect jobs, and strengthening regional and national institutions to make them more independent, resilient and effective.

Another key recommendation is the need to strengthen health infrastructure across African countries, invest in STEM to equip countries for the digital economy and to build capacity of member countries to implement existing policies and continental declarations already acceded to by them.