Source: Mo Ibrahim Foundation, The Sustainable Development Goals Center for Africa. Sustainable Development Solutions Network

In the 2020 Africa SDG Index and Dashboards Report, most of the 17 SDG goals have witnessed serious setbacks, mainly due to COVID-19.

The slowdown of domestic economic activity translates into revenue shortfalls. The financing gap for SDGs in Africa that was already large is expected to widen, increasing the fiscal vulnerability of African governments. Without financial resources, sustainable development is elusive.

According to the Industrial Development Report 2020, much of the world, especially Africa, is not engaging with new technology and remains excluded from recent technological breakthroughs.

One fourth of the global currencies have values of more than 100 units per dollar, according to UN Operational Rates of Exchange on October 01, 2020. Most of the countries that have strong currencies against the dollar are liberal economies that have positive relationships with Western countries and the Breton woods institutions, while economies that have the weakest currencies are by large labeled as socialist countries.

According to the AfDB report released in June 2020, only 15 African countries have foreign currency reserves that cover their import for over five months. These countries either have oil resource or they have small import proportion. The African average is 3.2 months. ‘Countries with low foreign currency reserve will have less room to import medical equipment under the covid19 era’, according to the report.

Top 10 Host Economies, 2019

Source: UNCTAD, 2020

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow to developed economies shrank by six percent to an estimated USD643 billion from their revised USD683 billion in 2018, according to UNCTAD. FDI remained at a historically low-level, at half of their peak in 2007.

Ethiopia’s exports of goods and services witnessed a moderate growth this financial year. The country shipped two billion dollars of goods until the end of the third quarter of the existing fiscal year, showing a 10Pct growth compared to the same period last year.

Economic growth in sub-Saharan region is projected to contract by 1.6Pct in 2020, according to the World Economic Outlook report published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Fund, which earlier forecasted that the region’s economy would grow by 3.1Pct, changed its previous estimates due to the economic disruption from the spread of the Coronavirus.

The slowdown of manufacturing in China due to the corona virus (COVID-19) outbreak is disrupting world trade and could result in a USDUS50 billion decrease in exports across global value chains, according to a report published by UNCTAD on March 4, 2020. The most affected is the manufacturing sector, especially producers of precision instruments, machinery, automotive and communication equipments.

Iceland has topped the Global Gender Gap Index for the 11th year in a row, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gaps Report published last month. In 2020, the forum surveyed 153 countries. The highest possible score is 1 (total equality) and the lowest score is 0 (total inequality). Economic participation opportunity, educational attainment, health, survival, and political empowerment are factors taken into consideration in calculating the index.

Ethiopia’s economy exhibited a nine percent growth in the past financial year. This is two percentage points higher than the amount registered during 2017/18 fiscal year. The expansion in the economy is attributed to 11Pct growth in services, 3.8Pct in agriculture and 12.6Pct in industrial sectors. The total GDP of the country has reached ETB1.8 trillion during the previous financial year.