The World Trade Organisation (WTO) expects world trade to fall by 13 per cent to 32 per cent in 2020, due to the disruptions to economic activity caused by the pandemic.
Consistent with these developments, the pandemic is expected to set off the first recession in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in 25 years, with growth forecast between 2.1 per cent and and 5.1 percent in 2020, from a modest 2.4 per cent expansion in 2019, according to World Bank.
With the European Union (EU) – the most open market for African exports accounting for 29.8 per cent of total trade – set to enter into a recession, the outlook for the continent is gloomy.
Compounding the matter further, include issues involving escalating trade tensions, increasing trategic as pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment (PPE)policy uncertainty and the weakening investment in the face of disruptions of global value chains.
With intra-regional trade accounting for only 17 per cent of total trade in the continent, according to UNCTAD statistics (2019), the current season presents investment opportunities for Africa to re-position itself.
