Africa in the time of COVID-19: Finding Local Solutions to Combat a Global Pandemic
Abstract
The onset of Covid-19 pandemic has caught the entire globe by surprise. Left unchecked, it is evident that the pandemic has the potential of causing untold devastation that is unheard of for more than a century. According to several reports from epidemiologists, it is a strain of flu that rivals the Spanish pandemic of 1918-1919, which killed at least 20 million people worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to examine how a number of selected African countries have organized themselves to reduce the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic. It has been observed that the potential social, economic, and security devastation that COVID-19 could cause in Africa should be enough of an incentive for African governments to invest immediately in preparedness for the worst-case scenario. In this paper, the authors have examined how the use of local solutions in ten selected African countries has helped in combating the virus. For methodology, data was collected from primary and secondary sources that have been compiled to explore the differences in the approaches of different countries. The methodology of data collection also involved interviewing people from the various countries to examine the authenticity of the information gathered. The success of the combat measures applied is in terms of making comparisons of the country data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the number of positive cases and the fatalities. The data analysis involved correlating both the primary and secondary information. It is concluded that countries that have applied local solutions to combat the pandemic have had more success than those that waited for the west to get solutions.The more successful countries are those that sought local resources, intensified surveillance, and built capacities to limit onward transmission. The authors have concluded that this may be the beginning of a new approach to finding solutions to local problems with minimal reliance on the West. While they do this, there are obvious challenges that they will face as they move forward in a new era of self-dependence but the end result will be economic independence and less focus on catching up development.
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