The effects of the Covid-19 crisis in sub-Saharan Africa through trade, commodity prices, remittances, tourism and global value chains are likely to be devastating. The World Bank is forecasting a decline in growth in the region from 2.4% in 2019 to between -2.1 and -5.1% this year, estimating African economies could lose between $37 billion and $79 billion in output losses. This will have huge financial impact.

On one level, economies will struggle to achieve financial stability and recover as concerns mount on issues around debt sustainability. On another level, the crisis will impact African countries financial sector development (FSD), which may also have implications for how policies and regulations are formulated and implemented in a post-Covid world.

This webinar convenes finance experts and sector stakeholders to discuss the post-Covid trade-offs between financial stability and economic renewal for African countries and what specific FSD policies, and regulation are important to address the fall out and ensure stability after the pandemic. Panellists include researcher Peter Knaack, who will share new insights from the DEGRP research project ‘Developing countries navigating global banking standards‘.

Chair

• Jonathan Rosenthal – Africa Editor, The Economist

Speakers

• Anzetse Were – Economist, FSD Kenya
• Adeyemi Dipeolu – Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria on Economic Matters
• Judith Tyson – Research Fellow, International Economic Development Group, ODI, and EPG’s Finance Lead
• Peter Knaack – Senior Research Associate, Global Economic Governance Programme, Oxford University, and DEGRP researcher
• Razia Khan  – Chief Economist Africa, Standard Chartered

The webinar will be hosted by ODI on 9 June 2020, from 2pm to 3.30pm (BST).

Watch the recording on the ODI website