Opinions

The covid-19 pandemic has dealt a severe injury to Africa’s development prospects and worsened the conditions of its poor and vulnerable. Although there are calls for voluntary international aid to support the continent during this difficult time, this is far from the best solution.   Today, Africa is home to…

As the West focuses on its own survival, Africans have the opportunity to complete what their ancestors started.     The Western “brand” is suffering from what many see as a “slow and haphazard” response by Western governments to the COVID-19 outbreak. As the epicentre of the pandemic moved from…

Trading under the AfCFTA Agreement is meant to begin on 1 July 2020. But the AfCFTA State Parties still have critical issues to address to create an integrated, active and efficient AfCFTA market.       Where are we with the AfCFTA? The Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade…

In fact, Africa and the Global South can teach the rest some lessons.      It was inevitable that racism would rear its ugly head. Having previously documented the long and shameful history of unethical drug testing on communities of colour across the globe, I was not surprised earlier this month when…

Covid-19 is like a drama in which each act eclipses the one before. First, it was Wuhan. Then it moved to Europe. Now it’s accelerating in the United States. But the act that could overshadow all is when Covid-19 takes off in Africa.     Unless extremely fast action is…

The coronavirus will challenge African economies already saddled with debt, shrinking budget revenue, and compromised health systems. A continent-wide approach that applies lessons learned in Liberia during the Ebola outbreak and elsewhere during the current pandemic will be needed to prevent fiscal ruin.   As COVID-19 crisscrosses Africa, and policymakers…

Combating COVID-19 is more challenging in Africa than in other parts of the world. But a two-year moratorium on all external-debt repayments would at least give governments there the fiscal space they need to respond to the pandemic.     After a slow start, COVID-19 has spread increasingly rapidly throughout…

The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to impose heavy human, financial, economic, and social costs on Africa. But the crisis also creates an opportunity to re-examine the continent’s fiscal and economic-policy priorities, build stronger health and social sectors, and establish a global fund to support productive investment.     The coronavirus…

These are very difficult days, as the world faces one of its worst challenges ever: the novel coronavirus pandemic. And it seems almost no nation is spared. As infection rates rise, so does panic across financial markets, as economies drastically slow down, and supply chains are severely disrupted.    Extraordinary…

Only by coming together will the world be able to face down the COVID-19 pandemic and its shattering consequences. At an emergency virtual meeting last Thursday, G20 leaders took steps in the right direction.  But we are still far away from having a coordinated, articulated global response that meets the…