The Corona Virus Pandemic: Was Africa Caught Flatfooted? (Published)
Despite an earlier warning about the occurrence of coronavirus in future, the world seems to have been caught by surprise. In particular, Africa did not appear to have the financial readiness to afford vaccines or healthcare for the affected. The World Health Organization (WHO) proclaimed COVID-19 a global health crisis in January 2020. Since its detection in Wuhan, China, the infection moved to Europe, particularly Italy in early March and eventually spread to the rest of the world. However, in Africa, the pandemic could have brought unprecedented damage with ripple effects to economies. From the events following the pandemic, it appeared that Africa was not prepared. This study is structured as a research paper that interrogates the literature and presents the key elements of pandemic preparedness for Africa. The new conceptual model can guide researchers and policymakers in conducting further research for scholarly discourse and practical application.
Citation: Mwanzia M., Owino E., and Ntara C. (2023) The Corona Virus Pandemic: Was Africa Caught Flatfooted? International Journal of Development and Economic Sustainability, Vol.11, No.1, pp.37-49
Keywords: COVID-19, Corona Virus, Covid pandemic, Pandemic preparedness
The Socioeconomic Impacts and Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Omicron Variant: The Case of Sudan (Published)
Viruses mutate over time, and SARS-CoV-2 is no exception. Mutations in viruses occur naturally, and the more they circulate, the more likely they are to mutate. This study mainly focuses on assessing the socio-economic effects and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the newely emerged Omicron variant in Sudan. A qualitative research approach was adopted in which a combination of secondary and primary data were collected. In this regard, a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed articles was carried out to collect the secondary data. While semi-structured personal interviews were conducted with key stakeholders. Furthermore, purposive/judgmental sampling was utilized to select interviewees, and their responses were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The findings of this study showed that Sudan’s economy was already stressed before the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, due to currency crises, high inflation rates, and the inability of the authorities to provide subsidies. Moreover, the outbreak of coronavirus and subsequent lockdown ,in the first wave, had further worsened the socio-economic situation. The country suffered due to a sharp downfall in productivity, supply, and demand. All of which had adversely affected business sustainability, consumers’ preference and consumption, remittance inflows, and resulted in mass poverty in rural areas. Also, the emergence of Omicron variant have placed the global health systems on high alert. Therefore,this study proposes a framework to extend the research on the macro and microeconomic factors, that shape up the socioeconomic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Omicron variant. Furthermore, it recommended that Sudan’s poliy makers must reinforce and rebuild the health system as quickly as possible. To aid the country in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and any other catastrophic epidemic. In addition, the government must reform rules and invest in public health, economic stimulus, and social safety nets.
Keywords: COVID-19, Demand, Socioeconomic, business sustainability, omicron variant, supply
The Covid-19 Pandemic and the Questioning of the Principle of the Human Development Index (Published)
The covid19 epidemic has definitely affected nearly all economic and social activities across the world, in addition to its destructive and fatal impacts. As a result, estimates for global economic growth have been lowered downward. Furthermore, the pandemic scenario has pushed scientific study in new areas in order to discover answers to the new problems that have arisen as a result of the epidemic. We have questioned the idea of calculating the human development index (HDI) in this context, while providing new assessment criteria judged useful and compatible with pandemic conditions to evaluate sub-dimensional development indicators pertaining to health, education, and income. As a result, we have shown that the environmental dimension is necessary for measuring the progression of the HDI, allowing us to offer a novel HDI calculation formula.
Keywords: COVID-19, Human development, Index, pandemic, principle