UN General Assembly
2020

Africa’s growth and development looked promising at the start of 2020. Growth was expected to rise from 2.9% in 2019 to 3.2% in 2020 and 3.5% in 2021. Significant progress was being made in poverty reduction and health indicators. COVID-19 has shattered that impetus and many of our countries will be in recession. Before COVID-19, Africa needed 600 billion dollars a year to achieve the SDGs. This figure will certainly be reassessed upwards. The pandemic therefore requires that we strengthen bilateral, regional and interregional partnerships. It calls for developing better coordination both with United Nations agencies and international financial institutions. The time has come to further strengthen the links between peace, security in the broadest sense and development. This is about coming together in the face of a global state of emergency that is as much related to health, the economy, society and climate as it is security.