“I certainly hope this is a unique moment where we will have profound conversations, not only about our own lessons or our own challenges, but about the future of humanity….This lockdown gives us the opportunity to have long conversations that otherwise would not have happened.”
“We have to remember in all of this that in Africa the economy is also a patient. Most of the economies of many of these countries are informal: mom‐and‐pop shops, micro and small businesses that are starving for capital. We worked with a number of our partners across multiple countries to put in place access to finance for micro and small businesses.”
“One of the key questions was, how is China involved? And how much is China also going to be, at the multilateral level, engaging on discussions? How can China make aid more effective? How can China be more transparent? How can China prioritize the same things other donors are aiming to prioritize?”
“Public health will not be able to cope with this pandemic if it becomes a major crisis of the scale that we have seen in the West and in China. There’s almost nothing we can do about it because we just don’t have time. But it has been a massive wake-up call.”
“In Africa’s case, the economic crisis actually preceded the health crisis because it started out in the advanced economies and also in China. Africa began to feel the effects before it started to register a significant number of cases on the continent.”
“Gideon Rachman discusses how African countries are coping with the pandemic with Donald Kaberuka, a Rwandan economist and former president of the African Development Bank, who has been appointed by the African Union to be one of its four special envoys, mobilising international support for the continent.”
“Economic conditions in a number of African countries are worsening by the day. Lockdowns and a plummet in global commodity prices brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have led to severe economic repercussions across the continent. At the same time, Africa’s estimated $400 billion of debt is weighing on policymakers’ ability to devote more resources to combat the worsening public health crisis in their countries.”
“Without much of a health budget, Senegal is being championed for controlling the novel coronavirus. From early-detection mobile kits to 3D-printed ventilators, the West African nation is demonstrating a possible model in curbing COVID-19, relying on their experience of managing the Ebola outbreak.”
“In today’s episode of ‘Boots on the ground: behind SA’s lockdown,’ we place under the microscope the plight of our neighbours both locally and across our borders, and consider what happens to our humanity when we ignore the suffering of those around us.”
“The global pandemic of coronavirus may be waning in Asia and Europe, but it’s hasn’t quite peaked across Africa, and in particular North Africa. How is the region dealing with a sudden drop from tourism, oil and investment? Are governments trusted by their people to make the right decisions?”
A hub for information, analysis, and the global response to COVID-19’s impact on Africa