The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group and its partners, the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), have announced the postponement of the AIF Forum scheduled to hold in South Africa in November 2020 to 2021, due to COVID-19.
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This was disclosed in a statement by the AfDB on Wednesday evening, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
AfDB also acknowledged the rising second wave of the pandemic, affecting global travels and investments as a reason for the postponement.
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The Multilateral organization disclosed that the forum has been an opportunity for stakeholders in Africa to close deals, as 2 deals worth $40.1 billion were secured in the 2019 forum. The Bank says despite the postponement, it will continue to deliver deals and investment for the African continent.
What you should know
Nairametrics reported in July that AFDB published its African Economic Outlook 2020 Supplement and warned that the continent’s GDP would fall by at least 1.7%, and if the coronavirus pandemic continues into the second half of 2020, it could contract up to 3.4%.
“Africa could suffer GDP losses in 2022 between $145.5 billion (baseline) and $189.7 billion (worst case) from the pre-COVID-19 estimated GDP of $2.59 trillion for 2020,” the Bank stated.
The bank warned some losses will be carried over into 2021, as the projected recovery would be partial, and warned of projected GDP losses for 2021, ranging from $27.6 billion to $47 billion (worst case).
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