In this episode of What's the New Normal? we look at the impact of COVID-19 on Africa.
Thank you to our speakers Debora Patta (CBS) and Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy (Facebook) for sharing their insights, as well as our audience for their engagement.
Below you can find the recording as well as some of the readings our panelists and audience members suggested throughout the conversation.
Mercy Corps: Debora suggested this report. Using information collected from 22 Mercy Corps country programs, this market impact report provides real time examples of how the stringency of rules and regulations to stem the spread of the virus, the robustness of markets and supply chains, as well as the compounding nature of pre-existing crises all factor into how businesses, farmers, formal and informal workers and their families are coping and the potential impacts on income and food security.
McKinsey: On April 1st McKinsey released their findings on the impact of COVID-19 on Africa. The report looks into an initial analysis of COVID-19’s economic impact, which finds that Africa’s GDP growth in 2020 could be cut by three to eight percent as well as a framework for near-term action by governments, the private sector, and development institutions to mitigate this impact.
COVID-19 Macro-economic consequences for developing countries: A couple of weeks ago Ricardo Hausmann gave a talk on the effects of COVID-19 on developing countries. It is sobering and insightful. He points out the trap of copying richer countries responses when resources are limited.
COVID-19 and police brutality in Africa. A worrying read suggested by audience member Moira Campbell, of Corruption Watch. It covers police brutality during lockdown specifically in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
Jocelyne mentioned how Facebook, which has the world's largest open plan office, is considering more distributed working models, and reducing its reliance on physical office space. Manhattan Faces a Reckoning is a NY Times piece about what could happen to dense commercial centres, should the remote working trend persist.
Fuck the Bread. The Bread Is Over: A brilliant, beautifully written piece about the things that were important to us before lockdown and the things that no longer are. Get lost in the mesmerising writing of Sabrina Orah Mark.
You Won’t Believe My Morning: A quirky piece by Tim Urban, suggested by Dario Da Silva, on how the coronavirus presents us with an opportunity to express solidarity with the global community.
Debora Patta, CBS Africa Correspondent. Best known in South Africa for her investigative journalism, for the last five years, Debora has managed to elevate African news to the top stories on CBS's global news network. Her bold coverage includes Boko Haram, Ebola in a war zone , Ethiopian Airlines crash, and Somalia terrorist attacks.
Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Facebook Strategic Media Partnerships. Jocelyne builds partnerships between media and tech. Originally a journalist, she moved into content distribution for 'old media' before joining Facebook. News integrity and the fight against false news is a key focus of her role. Jocelyne has a deep knowledge of the continent, its leaders, current affairs and geopolitics.