Let not Covid worsen the bad situation Africa is in, PACJA tells African ministers

The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) has sent a 10-point set of demands to the African Finance Ministers that recently met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to chart the economic way forward for the continent.

In a statement to the African States representatives attending the 53rd Session of Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development themed “Africa’s Sustainable Industrialisation and Diversification in the Digital Era in the Context of Covid-19”, PACJA recognised the resumption of a wave of the Covid-19 infections and its ability to cause huge economic and many other losses, saying action to forestall loss of lives, human dignity and recession were crucial.“By some estimates, the outbreak will wipe out at least 30 million jobs on the continent and push down growth in many countries by an average of 2% to 3%.

The continent has already lost over US$29 billion of GDP, as estimated by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA),” the statement read in part.The 10 demands given by PACJA, which was also attending a workshop in Addis Ababa to dissect te nexus between the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis, were as follows:

Fast track regional economic integration in the continent to enhance the bargaining power of the continent on the global stageDevelop a common approach in dealing with the international debt burden as the continent struggles to recover from Covid-19.DOWNLOAD PDF