With COVID-19 affecting economic activity throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the cement market in Côte d’Ivoire faces a particularly uncertain year as presidential elections and a political crisis add further factors of volatility to the sector. In addition, new plant projects provide extra capacity in an industry that is already subject to over-capacity. By Limak Holding, Turkey.
The COVID-19 pandemic arrived in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) on 27 February 2020 in Nigeria. To date less than five per cent of worldwide cases and less than three per cent of total deaths have been recorded in this African region. Health lessons, knowledge and expertise of previous new viral diseases such as Ebola have been applied to halt the spread of the pandemic.
However, the outbreak has led to a contraction of regional economic activity due to disruptive domestic containment measures and declining external demand. In addition, terms of trade and commodity prices have been affected with SSA countries facing sharply-rising sovereign borrowing costs and large currency depreciations. To support the economies of these countries, their governments have implemented a range of monetary and macroeconomic policies.
