Covid-19 Could Generate 176 Million Additional Poor

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to sweep around the world, economies are falling apart, businesses are shutting down, people are losing jobs, and millions of people are running into instant abject poverty. Tomorrow is no longer assured.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made it clear that the capacity to withstand economic shocks is critical for sustained poverty reduction, well-being, and long-term development.

The World Bank estimates that the pandemic could generate 176 million additional poor people at 3.20 dollars a day around the world.

Cases of people running into poverty are already clear in Kenya. In 2020, the World Bank estimated that at least 2,000,000 Kenyans went into poverty due to the pandemic. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said that 2,000,000 others lost their jobs.

The recent lockdown of 5 counties of Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos, Nakuru, and Kajiado by President Uhuru Kenyatta just made matters worse. Hotels and eateries are shutting down and people losing their jobs. Millions to lose jobs again.

Read More:

• 1 In 6 Children Lives In Extreme Poverty In The World
• Government Needs Ksh 400 Billion For School Reopening
• KEBS Publishes an Additional Standard For Face Masks Produced Locally

Covid-19 just added another burden to Kenyans who have been struggling with hard economic situations for years. In 2018, according to FSD Kenya, 35 percent of Kenyan households experienced large financial costs associated with economic constraints.

In Kenya, like in Sub-Saharan Africa more broadly, there is a “missing jobs” crisis. Kenya’s increasingly educated workforce is growing by about 800,000 each year but only 90,000 jobs produced annually.

With the pandemic, the creation of jobs will significantly drop meaning the number of unemployed is going to double putting more pressure on the limited available resources. What will the government do to escape a crisis?

Currently, more than 1.4 million Kenyans cannot put food on the table according to the government with no plans in place to help them out.