Accra: The West African sub-region experienced an economic downturn in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a top official said.
Unlike the average growth of 3.5 percent in its gross domestic product (GDP) before 2020, the sub-region recorded a contraction of 2.0 percent last year due to the pandemic, said Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission.
He said the private sector had been hit hard by the pandemic and that many countries had to save different sectors to prevent their collapse.
“We hope for a turnaround in 2021, but any forecast for economic growth this year depends on the success of the current vaccination programs in almost all member states,” he added.
Brou expressed optimism that the vaccine programs will help the pandemic in the sub-region to make way for the normalization of socio-economic activities, reports the Xinhua news agency.
He said the West African Health Organization, the specialized health institution of the sub-region, would work with the health ministers of all member states to strengthen their health systems, train more health personnel, and put in place mechanisms for early detection of threats. , and deal with these threats effectively.
‘We also need to invest in research so that we can discover vaccines here and develop and produce the vaccines. “Although individual countries can do it on their own, it becomes more effective if we do it together, because viruses know no borders,” he added.
Source: Telangana Today