ADDIS ABABA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) on Thursday urged the Group of Twenty (G20) to offer immediate health and human response, and immediate emergency economic stimulus to African countries in their efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is a global crisis affecting the whole world. Africa, however, will be hit harder with a heavy and durable economic toll, which will threaten progress and prospects, widen inequalities between and within countries, and worsen current fragilities," the UNECA said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Noting that African countries need support in preparing for the health crisis and for the economic fallout, the UNECA also stressed that "measures being taken in Asia, Europe and North America such as social distancing and regular hand washing will be a particular challenge for countries with limited internet connectivity, dense populations, unequal access to water and limited social safety nets."

The UNECA, which noted that African countries are presently preparing for the worst effects of this pandemic in line with the steps being taken across the globe, also stressed that the G20 must do three major things.

According to the UNECA, the G20 member countries should "support for immediate health and human response, deliver an immediate emergency economic stimulus to African governments in their efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as implement emergency measures to protect 30 million jobs immediately at risk across the continent, particularly in the tourism and airline sectors."

"G20 leaders should support and encourage open trade corridors, especially for pharmaceuticals and other health supplies, as well as support for the upgrade of health infrastructure and provide direct support to existing facilities," the UNECA statement read.

This will enable countries to focus on prevention as much as possible and start building curative facilities, the UNECA said, adding that support should be provided to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Disease Control and Prevention Center Africa (Africa CDC) with funds channeled through the Global Fund, GAVI (a public-private global health partnership) and others."

According to the UNECA, G20 leaders should announce a 100 billion U.S. dollars (in addition to the 50 billion U.S. dollars already committed) to fund the immediate health response, social safety nets for the most vulnerable, feeding for out of school children, and to protect jobs.

"As a proportion of GDP (gross domestic product), this is consistent with measures taken in other regions. To ensure immediate fiscal space and liquidity, this package should include a waiver of all interest payments, estimated at 44 billion U.S. dollars for 2020," the statement read.

The UNECA, which urged G20 leaders to take measures to support agricultural imports and exports, the pharmaceutical sector and the banking sector, also stressed that "an extended credit facility, refinancing schemes and guarantee facilities should be used to waive, restructure and provide additional liquidity in 2020."

"G20 leaders should support a liquidity line available to the private sector operating in Africa to ensure essential purchases can continue and all SMEs dependent on trade can continue to function," the UNECA said, adding that G20 leaders "should ensure that national and regional stimulus packages covering private and financial systems include measures to support African businesses through allowing for the suspension of leasing, debt and other repayments to global businesses."

Last week, the UNECA had also warned that the unfolding coronavirus crisis could seriously dent Africa's already stagnant growth and result in billions of dollars' worth of losses in export revenues.

Vera Songwe, UNECA Executive Secretary, told a press conference in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa that COVID-19 was inevitably impacting Africa's trade.

"Africa may lose half of its GDP, with growth falling from 3.2 percent to about 2 percent due to a number of reasons, which include the disruption of global supply chains," said Songwe, adding the continent's interconnectedness to affected economies of the European Union, China and the United States was causing ripple effects.

The continent would need up to 10.6 billion U.S. dollars in unanticipated increases in health spending to curtail the virus from spreading, though revenue losses could lead to unsustainable debt, she said.

The UNECA estimates COVID-19 could lead to Africa's export revenues from fuels falling by around 101 billion U.S. dollars in 2020.

Remittances and tourism are also being affected, as the virus continues to spread worldwide, resulting in a decline in foreign direct investment flows, as well as capital flight, domestic financial market tightening, and a slow-down in investments -- leading to job losses, she said. Enditem

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