The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) published on Friday January 21, 2022 a new report on the socio-economic impact of COVID-19. According to this study, extreme poverty is increasing in West Africa due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new ECOWAS study shows that extreme poverty in West Africa increased by nearly 3% in 2021. The proportion of people in the region living on less than $1.90 a day rose from 2, 3% in 2020 to 2.9% in 2021. Worse, the debt burden of countries in the region has increased amid a slow economic recovery, shrinking fiscal space and weak resource mobilization. This report, produced in partnership with the West Africa Subregional Office for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), highlights the effects of preventive measures, including border closures, movement restrictions and disruption of supply chains. This deterioration in the economic situation has had negative effects on food security and the nutritional situation of women, men and children. ECOWAS experts say more than 25 million people in West Africa are unable to meet their basic food needs in the region, a 34% increase from 2020.