Africa Economy

With the world’s gaze increasingly trained on the upcoming US elections, emerging economies are also grappling with the question of how to facilitate voting in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Maghreb – which principally comprises Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia – has been hard hit by the coronavirus, but the pandemic has also sparked innovation and driven changes in the region that many hope will outlast Covid-19.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to pose multiple challenges for governments, development banks are playing an important role in aiding the recovery in emerging markets.

While global investment is expected to fall sharply this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, impact investment – the funding of projects that generate a positive social or environmental impact, as well as a financial return – is tipped to hold relatively steady, and could play a key role in the recovery of emerging market economies.

As governments around the world continue to grapple with the economic and health impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, policymakers in emerging markets have been seeking effective ways to support their informal sectors. In response to the growing crisis, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has called for a 'new deal' aimed at protecting informal workers.

With coronavirus containment measures providing a significant boost to online payments and e-commerce around the world, the pandemic appears to be accelerating the transition towards cashless transactions in emerging markets.