That people are unhappy about the current economic conditions in the country is no news. Inflation is at an almost two-decade high of 29.8%, domestic fuel prices are up about 100%, first quarter GDP growth was at a disappointing 3.3%, and public sector workers have just settled for a 15% cost of living allowance with government in an attempt to deal with rising prices of goods and services.

But just how unhappy are people? Well, in a new survey conducted by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) for Afrobarometer, 85% of people describe economic conditions as fairly bad or very bad. This is up from 62% from the last survey in 2019. 72% say their personal living conditions are fairly bad or very bad compared to 58% of people in the previous survey 3 years ago.

Perhaps even more depressing was the 87% of people who felt the country was going in the wrong direction. A figure higher than recorded in 2014, when a deteriorating economic situation led the government to seek an Extended Credit Facility with the IMF.

This survey was carried out in April 2022, two months before the government announced that they had entered into negotiations with the IMF for support for a domestic program. That the government had no choice than to go to the IMF (and in fact should have gone much earlier) should be evident to many. I make my case for the program in this post. But if you are still unconvinced, then these survey results should finally do the trick.

Economic pessimism could act as a self-fulfilling prophesy. People who think things will continue to be this bad or could get worse are less likely to spend and invest. And spending and investments are sorely needed for a country trying to break out of poor growth. It is clear that the country needs something to rekindle confidence in the economy at least. And the IMF, as humbling as this may sound, is our only option at the moment.