Lockdowns lifting

Governments across much of Sub-Saharan Africa have moved towards lifting coronavirus containment measures in recent weeks but, with the exception of South Africa, this has much more to do with economic concerns than success in controlling the virus’ spread. High frequency data suggest that activity in South Africa has already started to improve, and that should continue as the country eases the lockdown further next week. Elsewhere, however, these moves to ease restrictions reinforce our concerns that containment measures may be inoperable, and that the damage from the virus could persist for longer.