global economy - The African Mirror

Jan

2021

Global economy can shake off pandemic in 2021, leaders say

MARK JOHN VACCINES and fresh economic stimulus promised by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will give the global economy a chance to put the coronavirus pandemic behind it in 2021, policymakers and industry leaders told the Reuters Next conference. Their optimism came despite a resurgence in COVID-19 cases that has prompted the World Bank to downgrade its growth forecast for this year and warn that delays in vaccination programmes could pinch recovery even further. The head of German engineering giant Siemens AG said China is currently driving the world economy but was optimistic about recovery in the United States, where Biden…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 shook, rattled and rolled the global economy in 2020

BUSINESS

DAN BURNS and MARK JOHN WHEN 2020 dawned, the global economy had just notched its 10th straight year of uninterrupted growth, a streak most economists and government finance officials expected to persist for years ahead in a 21st Century version of the "Roaring '20s." But within two months, a mysterious new virus first detected in China in December 2019 - the novel coronavirus - was spreading rapidly worldwide, shattering those expectations and triggering the steepest global recession in generations. The International Monetary Fund estimates the global economy to have shrunk by 4.4% this year compared with a contraction of just…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Are digital health passports a good idea?

COVID-19

UMBERTO BAACHI THE rollout of the first batches of COVID-19 vaccines in Britain and the United States has reignited a debate around the possible use of digital health passports to ease the lockdowns that are crippling the global economy. Proponents say identifying people who are immune to the novel coronavirus or at lower risk of spreading it could help open up travel and other services. But, critics have raised concerns over privacy, health and discrimination. As more technology firms develop digital certificates that can be accessed on smartphones by employers, airlines and others here is all you need to know…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

How global and local experience would play out in WTO top job

BUSINESS

THE global economy faces profound uncertainties, particularly in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, faith in the efficacy of international bodies such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been weakened by a power struggle between China and the US. EZEBUILO UKWUEZE, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, Nsukka, University of Nigeria As the process for appointing a new head of the organisation moves into its final phase, it’s worth considering what front runner Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala could bring to the complex role of managing an international organisation, including designing and implementing reforms. The WTO describes itself as…