World Bank announces new financing of $650m for Ebola affected countries

The World Bank Group today announces new financing to help the three countries most affected by the Ebola disease.

The Bank announced today that it would provide at least $650 million during the next 12 to 18 months to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone recover from the devastating social and economic impact of the Ebola crisis and advance their longer-term development needs.

This brings the Bank’s total financing for Ebola response and recovery efforts to date to $1.62 billion.

According to the Bank, GDP estimates show that the Ebola epidemic continues to cripple the economies of the three countries.

“Estimated GDP losses for the three countries in 2015 rose to $2.2 billion: $240 million for Liberia, $535 million for Guinea and $1.4 billion for Sierra Leone,” the Bank says.

It also notes that in addition to the severe effects of Ebola, the economic downturn in the three countries is aggravated by the sharp decline in global iron ore prices, as well as the collapse of the mining sector in Sierra Leone, resulting in an unprecedented GDP contraction in that country estimated at 23.5 percent.

The Bank’s new report on the countries’ GDP finds that Sierra Leone is now facing a severe recession with the potential for an unprecedented -23.5% growth rate in 2015, resulting from financial issues that led to the closure of iron ore mining. Liberia is gradually returning to normalcy, with a projected GDP growth rate of 3% in 2015, higher than in 2014 though still well below pre-Ebola estimates of 6.8%. Guinea’s economy continues to stagnate, with a projected growth of -0.2% for 2015 compared to pre-Ebola rate of 4.3%.

The Bank is therefore calling for urgent international financing to help the countries recover.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi