READ: Ebola to slow growth in Africa, says report
If, however, there is a fresh acceleration in the spread of the disease, the total costs could be between $25-$30 billion, notes the World Bank.
READ: West African economies to lose $359m over Ebola
Either way, it is time to look at how the countries at the centre of the Ebola epidemic can move from crisis to economic recovery.
“A regional approach would achieve the best recovery results,” Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf told the 600 delegates at the Brussels conference. “There is no doubt that this will require significant resources,
perhaps even a ‘Marshall Plan’.”
This “Marshall plan” will be presented at a meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in April.
The international community has cobbled together just over $5 billion in pledges, dominated by the European Union and the US, together with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. However, the three countries and the wider region will face both one-off and long-term economic costs.
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The agricultural sector, in particular, will need support. Surveys conducted earlier this year indicate that some 75-90 per cent of people in the three countries worried that they would not be able to afford enough to eat. Corn and rice production fell by an estimated 20-25 per cent in Guinea and Liberia.
IMF pressed to cancel debts of Ebola-hit countries
Ebola to slow growth in Africa, says report Guinea, Liberia and Sierra