Ebola can ‘ruin’ African economies

 THE Ebola outbreak could have a catastrophic impact on the economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the World Bank says.

The organisation says the economic impact of the virus could “grow eight-fold” in the “already fragile states”.

However, it says the cost can be limited if the epidemic – and the accompanying fear – is contained by a fast global response.

Ebola has killed 2461 people in West Africa – the largest ever outbreak.

US President Barack Obama has called the latest outbreak “a threat to global security”, and announced a larger US role in fighting the virus. 

The measures announced included ordering 3000 US troops to the region and building new healthcare facilities.

The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the epidemic.

It is expected to pass a resolution demanding a more forceful international response to the crisis, urging member countries to provide medical staff and field hospitals.

The resolution will call for the lifting of travel restrictions that have prevented health workers from offering assistance. 

UN officials have described the outbreak as a health crisis “unparalleled in modern times”.

The World Bank’s analysis said billions of dollars could be drained from West African countries by the end of next year if the virus continued to spread.

Under the worst-case scenario, the global development lender predicted that economic growth next year could be reduced by 2.3 percentage points in Guinea and 8.9 percentage points in Sierra Leone.

It predicted Liberia’s economy would be hardest-hit, losing 11.7 percentage points off its growth next year.

The report emphasised the need to tackle the fear of the disease, as well as the virus itself. 

It said “aversion behaviour”, arising from concerns about contagion, was having a bigger economic impact than the “direct costs” imposed by the epidemic.

Productivity has dropped in sectors of the economy such as agriculture and mining as a result of quarantine measures, and because of fears about the spread of the disease. 

Many people are working less, and earning and spending less as a result, fuelling poverty.

“The primary cost of this tragic outbreak is in human lives and suffering, which has already been terribly difficult to bear,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said.

“But our findings make clear that the sooner we get an adequate containment response and decrease the level of fear and uncertainty, the faster we can blunt Ebola’s economic impact.”. This isn’t just the worst single Ebola outbreak in history, it has now killed more than all the others combined. – BBC