Somalia loses $1.5 billion due to Coronavirus pandemic as infections surge

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Just a month after the detection of the first Coronavirus case in Somalia, the disease could dismantle an already ailing economy, which is witnessing a significant reduction in money obtained from remittances.

At home, the fragile UN-backed administration is unable to collect revenue, with its remittance shrinking by a whopping 40 percent, further destabilizing a robust economic recovery path.

But the devastating impact has been caused by dwindling fortunes abroad, which has affected regular remittances from the diaspora community, which is critical in steering the economy of the war-torn nation, reports indicate.

The Coronavirus pandemic has hit the diaspora community, with several deaths of Somalis recorded in the UK, Canada, Australia, and the US, which are some of the worst-affected nations by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abdirahman Duale Beileh, the country's Finance Minister, opines that the millions could starve in Somalia due to crash I remittance flow, which is estimated at $1.5 billion annually.

This figure, he adds, is significantly more than foreign aid, and many families depend on the cash for their survival. It helps people pay for school fees, medical help or simply to buy food, he said on his Twitter handle.

Statistics obtained by the BBC indicate that some of the largest money transfer companies in the UK have seen a drastic fall of remittances, some recording over 50 percent misfortune.

Besides the pandemic, Somalia is embroiled in unending Al-Shabaab attacks, frequent inter-clan conflicts, droughts and floods, and even the recent locust invasion, making it one of the hotspots, which could suffer unbearable recession.

It is possible the hit to the economy from coronavirus will bring it to its knees, said Duale, who is involved in steering the fragile economy, which has, however, been recording fundamental positive response in fiscal management.

Recently, a $5 billion injection of funds from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund - together with improved financial discipline - have made Somalia eligible for debt relief for the first time in 30 years.

The World Bank has also released a report saying that sub-Saharan Africa could lose $37 billion in remittances because of coronavirus. Thousands of people including in Somalia have lost jobs due to the pandemic.

But to mitigate the predicament, Somalia has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew especially in Mogadishu, which is the epicenter of the COVID-19. The curfew hours have since been revised.

From today [Thursday], residents of Mogadishu will be required to be indoors from 7 pm local time to 5 am, Ismail Mukhtaar, the federal government spokesperson said in a tweet.

But the declaration has been criticized by sections of social media enthusiasts, who accused the FGS of "imposing" draconian restrictions which could further impair the struggling economy.

"The pandemic has reached all the corners of Mogadishu. Why they impose curfews at night only? Do they mean that the virus spread at evenings time only?" wondered Ahmed Nor Mohamed.

"Is this mean that the pandemic spread happens only in the evening, not the rest of the day? KKK TIA- This Is Africa, the way we think, the way we learn, and the way we lead," added Abdishakor Mohamed.

As of Tuesday, the government had recorded 284 positive cases of Coronavirus in Somalia. Almost 95 percent of the victims are from Mogadishu, health officials said, adding that 14 people have already died.

GAROWE ONLINE