President Ramaphosa warns of high job losses in South Africa as a result of shutdown measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Ramaphosa warns of high job losses: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that the effects of the shutdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus will spread to job losses as the economy struggles.
Ramaphosa said in his weekly newsletter Monday that companies in the aviation, construction, entertainment and hospitality sectors have indicated plans to cut jobs due to heavy losses in the past three months.
Small businesses have been hit hard, and some businesses are permanently closed, he said.
South Africa’s unemployment rate is forecast to rise to 29.7% since Tuesday, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. This will be the highest level in the statistical company’s current data series since 2008.
“For a country that is already facing an unemployment crisis and weak economic growth, tough decisions and tough days are ahead,” Ramaphosa said.
Africa’s most industrialized economy is likely to shrink by 7% this year, according to Fed estimates. Fed data shows that this was the most likely since the Great Depression when output fell by 6.2% in 1931.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will present a revised national budget in parliament this week.
COVID-19 in Africa
The COVID-19 epidemic was confirmed on February 14, 2020, in Africa. The first confirmed case was in Egypt, and the first confirmed case in sub-Saharan Africa was in Nigeria.
Most of the identified imported cases are from China and Europe and the US where the virus originated. It is believed that there is widespread underreporting in many African countries with poorly developed health systems.
Experts are worried about the spread of COVID-19 to Africa because many healthcare systems on the continent are inadequate, with problems such as equipment shortage, lack of funds, inadequate training for health workers, and inefficient data transmission.
It was feared that the epidemic would be difficult to control in Africa and that spreading it would cause serious economic problems.
As of April 18, 2020, the supply of ventilators is limited in most parts of Africa: there are only 2,000 ventilators between 41 countries, and ten countries do not have ventilators. Even basic items like soap and water are scarce in some parts of the continent.
Source: Lifestyleug & Fame Africa
