As the deadly Coronavirus continues to sweep across the world, it has emerged that more than 50 percent of jobs in Africa are going to be wiped out.
According to experts, the ongoing spread of Coronavirus will not only break the health facilities in Africa but will also leave African broke, poor, jobless and hopeless.
According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), will lose an income of more than 22 trillion shillings as a result of the ongoing spread of Coronavirus.
With the closure of companies and people losing jobs, Africa will at the end of the pandemic be poorer than ever before if efforts will not be made to cushion the economies at the moment.
“With an estimated 55 percent of global population having no access to social protection, these losses will reverberate across society, impacting education, human rights, and, in the most severe case, basic food security and nutrition,” said UNDP.
According to the organisation, Africa risks a “massive reversal of gains made over the last two decades, and an entire generation lost, if not in lives, then in rights, opportunities and integrity.”
Africa has so far recorded fewer deaths as a result of Coronavirus than other regions but organizations, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) have said that Africa should prepare for the worst.
In Kenya, it is estimated that at least 4 million people have been forced out of their jobs in a period of two weeks as a result of the pandemic.
The hotel industry is the worst hit with major hotels shutting down and sending their employees home. The government of Kenya also ordered the closure of bars and clubs until further notice to minimize the spread of the virus.
Kenya has 81 confirmed cases of Covid-19 (the numbers keep on changing daily, by the time you are reading this piece, they might be higher).