Hello and welcome to more or less on the BBC World Service with a programme that looks

at the numbers in the news and in life and I'm Tim Halford.

Last week was the first in our two parts special where we bring you numbers of the year.

We've asked some numbers minded people to take a look back on the year and to think

of one particular statistic that really stands out for them.

We're off to Sub-Saharan Africa for our first number.

My name is Razeer Khan, I am the head of research and chief economist for Africa and the

Middle East at Standard Chartered.

That's a bank by the way.

My number is minus 3.7%.

So this number is the pace at which we think Sub-Saharan Africa contracted in 2020.

No prices for guessing that the global pandemic was to blame for this contraction in the economy.

The biggest economies in this region tend to be the likes of Nigeria and oil producer.

Here's especially hard not just by the spread of Covid but also by the pressure that we

saw on oil prices as a result of the Covid crisis.

Probably the single greatest year and year contraction in oil demand in the history of

oil markets.

It will take beyond just 2021 for African countries to be restored to their pre-COVID levels

of GDP.

The real question is whether enough reform momentum can be sustained given what looks

likely to be a more difficult growth environment.

Perhaps one positive feature was that the impact of the health crisis in Africa was nowhere

...