Abstract
What began as a single COVID-19 case in China in late 2019 quickly spread around the globe in the first quarter of 2020. While the impact on the world’s health systems is unknown, the economic toll remains also remains unknown as the world grapples with an unprecedented global recession. This paper estimates that COVID-19 will drag African economies into a fall of about 2,1% in GDP, with smaller economies facing contraction of up to 8%. The contraction is mainly a result of export adjustments affecting primary commodity exporters, and the attendant losses to tax revenue which reduce the capacity of government to extend the public services necessary to respond to the crisis.