Policies for Enhancing Resilience and Transparency in Public and Private Financial Management in Post COVID-19 Africa

The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the precarious debt situation in Africa as in other regions of the world. The advent of the pandemic has led to significant shrinkage in economic activities and consequently fiscal base and associated fiscal revenue. Long before the pandemic, African countries had been underperforming on tax revenue collection compared to other developing regions of the world. For instance, in 2018, the region recorded the lowest tax-to-GDP ratio, i.e.,13.4 percent, compared to 14 percent in Asia and 18 percent in Latin America. Moreover, the pandemic slowed down economic activities in key sectors like agriculture, retail services, tourism, entertainment, and trade due to border closures. The slowed economic activities have further significantly reduced fiscal revenues and associated tax-to-GDP ratio. The pandemic’s recession has further worsened African countries’ precarious debt situation.