THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved $650 million in aid to Senegal to support the West African country's COVID-19 recovery, it said in a statement late on Monday. The announcement follows an earlier payment of $442 million to Senegal in April 2020, also to mitigate the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the IMF said. The pandemic has hit the Senegalese economy hard and caused growth to contract to an estimated 1.5% in 2020 from 5.3% in 2019, the IMF said. The Fund expects a modest recovery in 2021 with growth reaching 3.7% and forecast to reach 5.5% in…