Recession and violence among COVID side effects in Africa, report finds

FILE PHOTO: A police officer detains a man during a patrol as a nighttime curfew is reimposed amid a nationwide coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown, in Pretoria, South Africa, January 9, 2021. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

DAKAR (Reuters) - Much of Africa may have been spared the death toll that COVID-19 brought to other regions, but it now faces recession, growing violence and higher unempoyment because of the pandemic, a report said on Wednesday.

"The global economic shutdown has driven Africa into recession for the first time in 30 years, with severe repercussions for unemployment, poverty, inequalities and food insecurity," said the 2021 Ibrahim Forum Report.