Weakening the weak: A political economy of COVID-19 in Africa

Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which began in China at the end of 2019, is said to have infected over seven million people and has been responsible for the deaths of almost 600,000 people. It became a global emergency with its impact on the political, social, and economic lives of the entire world population. The International Monetary Fund and other sources have predicted that the effect of COVID-19 would include recession, and experts have claimed it would be orchestrated by commodity plummet, drops in tourism, inconsistent supply and demand, etc. Importantly, as COVID-19 advances in Africa, it is pertinent to address the peculiar nature of its impact on the African countries’ social, political, and economic atmosphere. The whole impact of COVID-19 seems to be weakening the weak African countries, considering the conspicuous challenges individual African countries are confronted with. This paper explores and explicates the political economy of COVID-19 in African countries. The paper was a desktop approach analysis of the political economy of COVID-19 and relevant materials were used from textbooks, the internet, and other journals.