The East African
Wednesday January 27 2021
Slow Covid-19 testing causes truck pile up at the Malaba border point between Kenya and Uganda. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
Summary
Covid-19 has also introduced a new economic paradigm, with digital technology taking the lead to ease the safe flow of goods across borders.
By ERASTUS MWENCHA
Sixty years since most African States attained independence, the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a fresh spotlight on the folly of the haphazard colonial boundaries.
Long traffic jams at border posts across the continent, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, were the poster child of the non-tariff barriers that continue to hamper trade in Africa. These boundaries are the primary reason for the high cost of doing business in Africa and are the cause of low intra-African trade, investment, economic integration, and poverty.
Political leaders’ role in a caring post-Covid economy
Wednesday January 27 2021
Coronavirus effects: Workers at Equator Flower Farm in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, pack flowers for export on March 16, 2020. Mr Micah Cheserem, the owner of the farm, said the main market is Europe and the flower business had been greatly affected. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
By SABELO NDLOVU-GATSHENI
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has underscored the necessity to rethink the existing economic model informed by capitalist logics of exploitation and profit-making. In many instances, the desire for profit trumps consideration for welfare and the environment.
In many African countries, exploitation of minerals without beneficiation, or value addition, has contributed to mass poverty. This compromises people s health and ability to cope with the outbreak of a pandemic of the magnitude of Covid-19.
Transforming strategies to facilitate a post-Covid-19 era that’s full of hope
Wednesday January 27 2021
By AZIM LAKHANI
While fast becoming a cliché, in a space of just nine months, the way of life of virtually the whole of humankind has changed. SARSCoV-2 respects no geographic, gender, ethnic, or religious boundaries. Dealing with it has required coordinated efforts between the government, the commercial sector, civil society, and individuals.
On behalf of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), I would like to congratulate the Nation Media Group (NMG) on holding the second edition of the Kusi Ideas Festival – Towards a Post-Covid Africa, in these unprecedented times and under the most challenging of circumstances. NMG’s resilience, flexibility, and ability to adapt to the Covid-19 pandemic is reflective of the capacity of AKDN agencies, of which NMG is one, to respond to crises beyond immediate interventions.