World Bank warns of extreme poverty setback as South Africa is buffeted by Covid

The World Bank expects the South African economy to recover by 3.3% in 2021 and return to a “near potential pace” of 1.7% in 2022 after contracting by an estimated 7.8% during Covid-afflicted 2020. However, it warns in its flagship Global Economic Prospects report, published on Tuesday, that the pandemic has precipitated a dramatic fall in per capita income, which has pushed tens of million more people in South Africa and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa into extreme poverty.