African economies could shrink 3.4pc this year, rebound in 2021

JOHANNESBURG: The African Development Bank (AfDB) forecast on Tuesday that the continent's economies will contract by 3.4% in 2020 if the pandemic continues into the second half of the year, compared to a pre-COVID-19 projection for growth of 3.9%.

A partial V-shaped recovery should see gross domestic product growth of between 2.4% and 3% in 2021, the Abidjan-based bank said in a revision of its African Economic Outlook which was originally published before the pandemic.