Africa's post-pandemic economic recovery: catch up, dont give up

This chapter is based on several key findings of a report published by the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University, Academy of Political Science, and Brenthurst Foundation in 2022, and takes a retrospective view of key issues and developments in Africa that are relevant to the continent’s post-COVID-19 recovery and trajectory. It identifies five key developmental challenges that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, which need to be addressed to accelerate recovery. These are pervasive inequality, a lack of statistical data, continental barriers to connecting with the digital economy, the impact of vulnerable informal business networks, and limitations in access to quality education. Given the size of the continent and differences across sub-regions and countries, five countries were selected for in-depth analysis around these five areas of development, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. Given the dynamic environment and rapidly changing COVID-19 landscape globally, the study and this chapter relied on secondary research methods in order to access the latest pertinent information and data. This included the collection of information from respected internet data portals and databases, newspaper articles, online health and science journals, and special reports from organisations such as the World Health Organisation and World Bank.