Saifaddin Galal
Research Expert North Africa
Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Northern Africa - statistics & facts
The coronavirus (COVID-19) enveloped the whole world, affecting all seven continents. Over 103 million tested positive for the virus globally thus far. The African continent registered approximately 3.5 percent of the infections worldwide, with roughly 3.6 million people having contracted the disease. The Northern African region had its share, with five out of the seven countries in the region being among the 10 countries with the highest infection rates on the continent. In fact, the first country in Africa to report a case was in the northernmost region.
Total cases and deaths
Northern Africa is home to almost 202 million people. Despite Morocco being the third most populous in the region, it was the most infected area. Morocco had its peak of coronavirus infections in November 2020, with the highest daily count of almost 6.2 thousand daily cases on November 12, 2020. As of February 4, 2021, Morocco registered the most COVID-19 infections. However, in terms of deaths, Egypt recorded the highest number. Regarding infection trends, Morocco faced one severe wave, while both Tunisia and Egypt had two waves, with the second wave being slightly weaker. By contrast, Algeria had three consecutive waves with each getting stronger over time.Economic impact
Northern Africa’s GDP growth was expected to contract by 2.3 percent in 2020, due to government restrictions in order to bring down the infection rate. Furthermore, throughout most of 2020, 22 million jobs were predicted to be lost. Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya are all forecast to face drops in real GDP growth. Libya is expected to face severe difficulties due to the dependency on oil, along with civil unrest, leading to poor conditions for fighting the pandemic. By contrast, in Egypt, although being the first country in the region to declare a confirmed case, real GDP is projected to grow in 2020, with further growth in 2021.Vaccination efforts
Countries around the world are trying to vaccinate their populations to be able to overcome the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In December 2020, Egypt received its first vaccine doses and was the first country to receive vaccine doses in Africa. The country started its vaccination campaign on January 24, 2021. The total number of doses administered in Egypt amounted to 30.56 million jabs as of November 6, 2021. Furthermore, Algeria started its campaign six days later as of November 2, 2021, registered over 11.2 million jabs.
