The Dilemma of COVID-19 in Africa

GSGC helps Africa find African solutions

How did we get here?

I grew up in the 90s in Zimbabwe. The hallmark of Zimbabwe in the 90s was the Economic Structural Adjustment Program. The ESAP was one of the many drives by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the African continent to make the mostly command South African economies more liberal.

Most of Africa had been under colonization pre-1960s. To break the shackles of colonization, African countries found respite in the tactics and friendship of Eastern countries such as China and Russia. The systems and structures of communism and socialism worked very well to fight the scourge of colonialism, and so many African countries received their liberty steeped in the lessons of Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin.

From the war room mantras to the economy and daily life, African states, more so South Saharan states, emulated the great principles of the Stalinists. It made sense. The economies were agricultural based and the euphoria of independence clouded everything. The populations were still relatively small so the war economic policies continued post independence — until the people became more educated due to more opportunities previously not afforded to the black masses, until those at the forefront of the liberation struggle started to bear fruit of their labour by being at the forefront of black empowerment programs receiving more than others, until the population boomed as more food and resources became more available, until globalization and African economies needed to open up.

Pro-people policies and pro-poor policies meant African governments, including our own in Zimbabwe, placed more emphasis on health for all (and) education for all, (with) agriculture the mainstay of the economy. Despite the success of these programs, they caused a strain on the fiscal and monetary elements of governance. Public funding was too high. Public corporations too many with central government paying the bills or writing them off, and a high wage bill for civil servants choking the life out of the economy. African governments had to do something.

IMF candy

Then came candy in the form of the International Monetary Fund. Candy, l say, because it offered an instant high but lacked in real nutrition. The IMF meant well. The call to liberalize the economies had worked in places like Singapore and small European countries, and so was touted to work in places like Zimbabwe. Governments were encouraged to allow demand and supply to work — allow the free market forces to work they said. Convert public entities into private institutions, they said. It had worked elsewhere, so why would it not work in our scenario.

Wind back to the 90s. The IMF dangled their huge financial packages to rescue the economies, and African countries needed the financiers. Markets were liberalized and the rest, as they say, is History!

Being a 90s teenager, l fell in love with the subject of Economics. I wanted to be an economist. It was exciting to be an economist. I was introduced to the stock exchange through a program by the Zimbabwe stock exchange. l carried big Economics books in my school satchel. Our Form 4 class of 1995 produced the very best results the school had seen in our Cambridge Ordinary Level exams in Economics. Yes, Cambridge. Fifteen As and 25 Bs in Economics that year in our class. I had an A. It became my ticket to do Advanced Level. Anyone who passed Economics with an A deserved to go to A Level. Such were the times and euphoria.

However, these economic adjustments programs were a disaster. The big financial institutions came with their own antidotes for African problems. They thought just because it worked elsewhere, it would work here. However our economies hemorrhaged and the masses suffered. Corruption took foot, and the gap between the rich and the poor increased, and people began to be disenfranchised. The then-president of Zimbabwe saw the folly and thought to remedy this by introducing, after an uprising by disenfranchised war veterans, the ill-fated land grab. It was actually necessary, but it was so ill-done that it produced the domino effect to crumble our economy. Everything truly fell apart. The space for opposition parties opened. Zimbabwe never recovered.

COVID-19 dilemma

Unfortunately the entrance of COVID-19 presents the same dilemma for our African continent. COVID -19 is real, and its impacts are real, just like the issues in the 90s. It’s called the novel coronavirus because it’s a novel sickness; we know nothing about how to handle it, but just deal with it as we go. Asia, Europe and America have been dealing with this disease much earlier than Africa and have developed responses tailored to their situations and their abilities: regular washing of hands, face masks, social distancing, isolation, quarantine, early testing, lockdowns and shut downs. The health systems are stronger, the economies better and the social protection mechanisms more robust and timely. The governments have not held back, neither their central banks. It’s a well-oiled system, but it too has struggled under the brunt of COVID-19.

Africa had time before the disease truly landed. However, the dynamics in Third World countries are just different than in Europe and the Americas. Our world systems are so different. The bulk of our populations stay in rural areas, in ghettos, in slums and in overcrowded cities. Our health systems are archaic, and years of corruption and looting have left our social protective systems weak and unable to cope with the magnitude of coronavirus, should it truly take hold. Our testing systems are poor and limited. Our doctors underpaid and ill equipped. It will be like a tornado when it truly comes. Doctors and academics are whispering when winter comes we will see the real numbers of COVID-19 infections. At present, there are minimal infection rates and deaths.

Our African governments have not stood still and waited. Herein lies our COVID-19 dilemma.

This virus response needs an Afrocentric approach, not necessarily a copy and paste of the interventions seen in Europe, China and America. We do not have the communication capabilities or the information technology. Our economic systems are just not strong enough. The cure might be more catastrophic than the disease. The world is always quick to offer solutions to Third World countries without conferring with the Third World countries, dangling huge financial packages to lure desperate African countries. Of course, Africa needs help, but let’s be honest: the lockdowns in some parts are not working. People are going about their business as usual. Water is a challenge, so is information dissemination. If African governments enforce the laws, heavy handedness and accusations (will) overwhelm everything. If African countries do not develop African solutions and mitigation to coronavirus, we will truly have an African COVID-19 pandemic.

African solutions for Africa, with GSGC help

Sfe Sebata, Mentor, Rise n’ Shine, rural Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

I am a social change entrepreneur working in rural Victoria Falls. My experience is that we need to deliver information in a way that rural people understand and create social protective systems that ensure safety and continuity. That is why l work with an organization called Global Sojourns Giving Circle that empowers girls and strengthens communities.

Why do l tout this organization? Because it allows us, the helpers on the ground, to deliver African solutions to African problems. We are disseminating information through the girls (clubs) to reach parents and communities in the hope that the right information will reach the masses. We are making masks, and we are monitoring the COVID response so we can ensure interventions by governments and other stakeholders are working and relevant, all so that responses can be tailored to the situation.

Unfortunately, our observations are that not enough correct  information is going about; posters and banners are needed. Washing resources are needed. The nature of our resources make social distancing difficult. Our health delivery systems are too far for the rural person, and people sometimes are too ignorant.

We might actually have a ticking time bomb in COVID-19 in Africa!

  — Sfe Sebata, Mentor, Rise n’ Shine, rural Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe