Afreximbank Research recently published a paper written by Prof. Emmanual Akyeampong (Ellen Gurney Professors of History and of African and African America Studies, and Oppenheimer Faculty Director, Harvard University Center for Africa Studies), discussing the strength and the reaction that African governments have during the post-COVID-19 period. As the author stated, “A key asset Africa has is the strength of its community networks and the continuing relevance of the extended family.” 

 

Across the world, COVID-19 has laid bare the social and economic disparities both between countries and within countries. African nations took steps to secure personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, test kits and ventilators, but were outbid by wealthier regions and countries. And in those wealthier, developed countries, like the US, COVID-19 disproportionately impacted minority groups – African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans – in larger, crowded urban areas. In the early months of the pandemic, deaths among African Americans and Hispanic Americans in cities like New York and Chicago far outnumbered their representation in those cities’ populations. In early April, it was reported that while African Americans represented 32% of the population of Louisiana, they accounted for 70% of COVID-19 deaths at that time.  

 

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