Cash transfers have been more targeted in Gambia with stipends for new mothers while Seychelles particularly targets people who have lost their income amid the pandemic. But cash transfers are not the only way governments are reaching and helping citizens. In Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger, food distribution to vulnerable people and utility bill freezes have been implemented while Mali’s program also includes food distributed to quarantined households.

In some cases however, these measures are simply not enough given the scale of poverty and existing welfare gaps.  In Nigeria, where 95.9 million people live in extreme poverty, the government provided cash relief to only 3.6 million poor households during its month-long lockdown, forcing private citizens to plug gaps through food banks and donation drives.

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