The Implications Of COVID-19 On African Economies

The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) shall hold its twenty-third Senior Policy Seminar virtually, commencing on Tuesday, March 30, 2021.

Running under the theme; The Global COVID-19 Health Pandemic and Its Implications for the African Economies, the virtual seminar will host the CS Health, Mutahi Kagwe, as the Guest of Honour.

Speaking about the virtual conference, AERC Executive Director Professor Njuguna Ndung’u said, “The pandemic has hard hit tourism-dependent and resource-intensive economies particularly, while also accentuating social and economic inequalities across nations. As Africa braces for the worst, many African countries are grappling with the best approach to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The current Covid-19 pandemic is damaging business ecosystems, affecting livelihoods, and threatening to overturn sub-Saharan Africa’s development progress and growth projections. The pandemic has once again brought to the fore these challenges and exposed the frailty of many of the institutions across the continent.

Yet, as the virus was late in arriving on the continent, we saw governments across Africa taking decisive actions to keep citizens safe and implementing global best practices and policies. While there are obvious capacity and execution shortfalls, there have also been several successful areas of practice.

The seminar will feature four presentations by thought leaders on the subject of the Global COVID-19 Health Pandemic including,

Dr Rose Ngugi, Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, (KIPPRA), on The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Poverty and Inequality in Five African Countries;

Prof Njuguna Ndung’u and Dr Abebe Shimeles, African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) on Trade-offs between Lockdown Measures to Control the Spread of the Covid-19 and the Economic and Social Consequences;

Dr Augustine Asante, University of New South Wales, Australia on COVID-19 and the Health Sector in Africa, and

Erik Thorbecke, Cornell University, USA on The Interrelationship between Growth, Inequality and Poverty: Some Implications for the Fight against the Covid-19 Pandemic.

A special Session in Honour of Prof. Benno Ndulu in which three speakers will make their contributions has been organized during the session. Prof. Benno Ndulu is one of the most celebrated academics in Africa, a policy leader, and Founder of AERC.

AERC Senior Policy Seminars are forums designed specifically to bring together senior policymakers from sub-Saharan African countries to exchange experiences and deliberate on topical issues pertaining to the sustainable development of their economies.

Participants in these seminars are drawn from the highest levels of government, including the Presidency, Ministers, Governors of central banks, heads of civil services, permanent secretaries, and heads of government agencies and parastatals.