"This lockdown came upon us suddenly. I used all my money to buy fabric. If I had known, I would have ... used it to buy food instead," said the mother-of-two, who runs her business from a room she rents in the Iwaya suburb of Nigeria's largest city. Like millions in Africa, Adepoju works in the informal sector, which accounts for more than 85% of employment across the continent and will be largely bypassed by meagre economic support measures that cash-strapped governments are rolling out. The International Monetary Fund said in a blog on the outbreak's impact on Africa last month that "social distancing" was not realistic for the most vulnerable, and the notion of working from home was only possible for the few.

Source: International New York Times April 07, 2020 09:56 UTC