African countries risk losing about 1.5 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the negative impact of climate change.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is one of the primary indicators used to gauge the health of a country’s economy.
A new study conducted by the International Monetary Fund on low income countries shows how climate change is impacting those economies.
Managing Director of the IMF Christine Largarde during her trip to Accra said “this means that right here in Ghana, without mitigating measures, rising temperatures and changing humidity levels may threaten cocoa production.”
She was speaking at the Just ended Forum on the Future of Work in Sub Saharan African Conference in Accra.
She added that “this would undermine Ghana’s export base and the livelihood of tens of thousands of farmers.
Making policy decisions in the face of such highly uncertain trends was challenging, she said.
But the IMF had developed three scenarios for the region that could happen “depending on how policymakers tackle the forces of demographics, technology and climate change”, the IMF chief said.
According to her Sub-Saharan Africa has seen relatively robust growth for almost two decade creating almost 9 million jobs per year since 2000, on par with the rise in the labor force.
Madam Largarde says the share of the population living in extreme poverty decreased from 59 percent in 1993 to 41 percent in 2015.
Experts believe Climate change presents a US$3 trillion investment opportunity in Africa by 2030.
Source: Africafeeds.com
