COVID-19 and Africa: Leading African policymakers reflect on the pandemic
As countries across Africa begin to relax their restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of new daily confirmed cases overall decreasing since August, African policymakers have an opportunity to reflect on how the COVID-19 crisis has reshaped the options and pathways for Africa’s development.
Folashadé Soulé-Kohndou, Senior Research Associate at the Global Economic Governance Programme and a Visiting Fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government, has conducted a series of interviews with African and Africa-based economists and policymakers, exploring their views on the pandemic’s impact across a range of issues – from the need to diversify the economy and shift towards a green transition, to a call for governments to reflect further on the gendered impacts of COVID-19. The interviews provide perspectives from across the worlds of policy, business and academia – upcoming articles will feature interviews with Dr Vera Songwe (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa) and Mossadeck Bally (the Founder and CEO of Azalaï, a leading hotel chain in West Africa).
The interviews, co-directed with Camilla Toulmin, were carried out for the Commission on Growth and Economic Transformation, hosted by the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET).