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While the total incidence of Covid-19 infections for southern Africa has been less than that of the global north, the economic impact of the pandemic on the region has been significantly harsher.
The tourism sector, across SADC countries Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, research shows.
However plans to revive economies have lacked innovation, says an economist.
While the total incidence of Covid-19 infections for southern Africa has been less than that of the global north, the economic impact of the pandemic on the region has been significantly harsher, according to an economist.
Zimbabwe: One vast informal business
Downtown Harare. PHOTO Sadat Sanhehwe
Zimbabwe’s economy has seen a drastic collapse since 2000. Once a fairly highly industrialised country, Zimbabwe is now a vast informal economy after the collapse of its once-thriving manufacturing and agricultural sectors.
Industry is operating at 30% of its capacity. Since 2011, more than 6,000 companies have closed shop, rendering hundreds of thousands unemployed, according to a 2016 Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) study. The CZI is the umbrella body of the manufacturing industry.
Hundreds of thousands of school leavers are graduating with no hope of formal employment, the CZI says. Unemployment now hovers around 85% and for many, the only hope is now in the informal sector.
Zimbabwe s delicate trade/industry balance – The Zimbabwe Mail thezimbabwemail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thezimbabwemail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Global Press Journal
BINDURA: Amid piles of red soil and the buzz of grinding mills, Lloyd Karambakuwa prepares to risk his life for gold.
Tall and slim, the 40-year-old is an artisanal miner in Bindura, a town 86 kilometers (53 miles) northeast of Harare, the capital. On this day, he dons a pair of worn-out shorts, attaches his headlamp and throws his equipment into a shallow tunnel. There is nothing to keep the tunnel from collapsing.
He has no protective clothing, equipment or formal knowledge of mine safety. Sometimes he has to work in water, which may be tainted with chemicals or rise frighteningly high.
February 5, 2021
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP), a think tank funded by the federal government, focuses on conflict resolution in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and other global hotspots. (Photo by Larry Luxner)
From Australia’s Asialink and Brussels-based Friends of Europe to the Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis and Research Unit, think tanks today flourish on every continent except Antarctica. They focus on a wide range of issues including healthcare, defense, fiscal policy and international relations.
Yet it seems that Washington, D.C., is home to more think tanks and better ones than any other city on Earth. In fact, six of the world’s 20 best such organizations are headquartered in the nation’s capital, according to the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Strategies Program (TTCSP).