Sub-Saharan Africa's economies to contract -3.3% this year, World Bank says

The coronavirus crisis is expected to drive a 3.3% contraction in sub-Saharan African economies and could push 40 million Africans into extreme poverty, the World Bank said on Thursday.

The Washington-based lender said growth in the region would recover in 2021, with economies growing by 2.1%, below 2019's growth of 2.4%. "Great uncertainty surrounds the scale and trajectory of the pandemic in the region," the bank said, citing the experience of European nations and the United States, which are going through a second wave of infections.