Electron Native

Mauritius’s economy is expected to contract by between 7.5% and 15% in 2020 due to the effects of the coronavirus, which have hit its tourism, manufacturing, and transport sectors, the central bank governor said on Friday.   Bank of Mauritius Governor Harvesh Seegolam said in a statement that these sectors, alongside information and communications, business and administrative activities, and wholesale and storage, made up almost 40% of gross domestic product. The bank had in March forecast growth of 2.6% to 2.8% this year. “The contraction in output this year will be severe,” Seegolam said. Mauritius has 334 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, 322 recoveries and 10 deaths. It has suspended international passenger travel, restricted movement on the island, and allowed only essential businesses to stay open. Seegolam said tourism, another important sector, had also slumped and that in April and May alone, the sector had lost 12 billion rupees in foreign exchange...

However, Mr Museveni did not mention any time frame with the comment. But latest available data from the country’s statistics’ office states that in 2017 Uganda earned $2 billion from tourism, an increase from $1.7 billion the previous year. President Museveni adds that the Ugandan economy would also lose the $1.3 billion sent home each year by Ugandans in diaspora as many would be out of work because of the global economic aftershocks of the lockdown. Last month, the International Monetary Fund reported that Uganda’s tourism earnings would fall by 54% in the 2019/20 (July-June) fiscal year, and decline by 52% in 2021. The IMF almost cut its forecast for economic growth in Uganda for the financial year ending in June to 3.3% and projects 3.7% growth in the following fiscal year. In the year ended June 2019, the economy grew 6.5%. Tourism is one of Uganda’s main revenue earners as the east African country attracts visitors to her Savannahs and game reserves to watch...