COVID 19 - Training Policy Briefs

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Analysis of the Effects of COVID-19 on the Trade, Transport and Health Sectors of Burundi
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-10-08) Ndayitwayeko, Willy Marcel; Ntawiratsa, Rédempteur; Nkurunziza, Désiré
The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to impact the lives of the people in Burundi. The country has witnessed significant increase in its confirmed cases on 31st March 2020. The disruptive effects of the COVID-19 crisis on global, regional and national trade have received enormous attention recently. The reason is that the pandemic has strongly affected the least-developed countries, especially those in Africa due to their reliance on export of commodities and tourism, and imports of pharmaceutical products, medical and food products. The measures taken to curb the spread of the virus at national and international levels has impacted negatively on the economy of Burundi. This policy brief presents the recommendations of the study done on the impact of COVID-19 mainly on trade, health and transport sectors.
COVID-19 and its Impact on Trade and Transport Sectors in Tanzania
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-09-30) Katera, Lucas; Msafiri, Derick
Towards the end of 2019, Chinese authorities announced the outbreak of mystery pneumonia cases in one of its biggest cities, Wuhan. Initially, the disease was referred to as 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and later it was named Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). By September 2020, the disease had spread to more than 200 countries and territories (Africa CDC, 2020), infecting 28 million people globally. Africa had the lowest incidence, 5% of the caseload, which is about 1.3 million COVID-19 cases and 29,833 deaths as reported in 55 African countries (Africa CDC, 2020; Mbuvha & Marwala, 2020). The pandemic has, not only claimed lives, but also affected negatively economic activities and increased burden to the health sector beyond capacity. In the sub-Saharan Africa region, the situation seems serious than in other parts of the world, perhaps due to its weak capacity to deal with disasters. The World Bank has projected that the region will suffer its first recession in 25 years with GDP shrinking by as much as 5.1% due to the disease (World Bank, 2020). This is in addition of potential loss of 20 million jobs (African Union, 2020). Within the continent, regions have been affected differently, but also within regions countries have been affected differently. It is, therefore, important to undertake location-specific studies to understand the impact extent of the pandemic within a location. Hence, this brief focuses specifically on Tanzania.
COVID-19 Implications on Private Investment and Markets in East Africa
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-09-30) Mwesigye, Francis
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which started in China at the end of 2019, has spread across the world at an increasing rate. The disease gained recognition in the rest of the World in March 2020 and no continent has escaped the virus. As of 30th March 2021, there were about 128 million confirmed cases and 2.8 million deaths around the world. Declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11th March 2020, COVID-19 has become a global emergency, given its impact on the entire world population and the economy. The pandemic has had deleterious effects on the health systems and health and, as a result, led to loss of lives. To curb the spread of COVID-19, governments have taken various steps such as general confinement and largescale shutdown of economic activities, which curtailed the movement of people and goods. These measures have had serious social and economic implications.
East African Community Regional Trade Policy amidst the COVID-19 Crisis
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-09-30) Zgovu, Evious K.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented global health and economic crises. National and international measures, including social and economic lockdowns, and suspension/ban of international passenger travel to control its spread have led to a breakdown of cross-border trade and value chains at national, regional and global levels. In its wake, the East African Community (EAC) and other countries must identify and implement measures to rebuild their economies for prosperity in a new normal world setting post-COVID-19
Impact Assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Tourism and Hospitality Industry in the EAC and Post Recovery Strategy for the Sector
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-09-30) Muoki, D.
Tourism is one of the largest foreign exchange earners and fastest-growing sectors in the East African Community (EAC). According to the EAC Secretariat, tourist arrivals in the EAC region increased from 3.5 million persons in 2006 to about 7 million in 2019. Tourism contributed to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the EAC Partner States by an average of 9.5% in 2019. It contributed an average of 17.2% to EAC total exports and 7.1% to employment. However, the upward trajectory in tourism in the region was devastatingly affected by the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Impact of Covid-19 Measures on Kenya’s Education Sector
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-09-30) Ng’ang’a, Tabitha Kiriti
Education is an important ingredient for human capital development. It trains manpower for all institutions whether private or public. Learning institutions comprise not only academic institutions but also training institutions such as those for teacher training, those training health personnel, information, communication and technology institutions, polytechnics, and many others. The closure of learning institutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant that the production of manpower in all sectors of the economy would adversely be affected. This study focuses on academic institutions, including primary and secondary schools, and universities. Specifically, the paper investigates the impact of the long closure of schools on private and informal community schools; analyzes the success of the online/remote learning; analyzes the impact of the long closure of schools on teachers, boys and girls; and investigates the learning institution’s level of preparedness to implement COVID-19 protocols when the institutions reopened in October 2020.
Impact of COVID-19 Measures on Kenya’s Health System
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-09-30) Ng’ang’a1, Tabitha Kiriti
Health is a very important component of human capital development for any country since healthy workers can be more productive and more efficient and at full potential without frequent absenteeism. The first Kenyan COVID-19 case was reported on 12th March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic touched the core sector of the economy; the health sector. The measures undertaken by the Government to curb the spread of the virus not only impacted the health sector but also people who seek services from the sector, leading to unintended consequences on other aspects of health. This study focuses on the status of the health sector before and during the first 6 months of COVID-19, the level of preparedness of the health sector for the pandemic, and the impact of the measures on selected health indicators.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Agriculture and Food Security in the East African Community Region
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-09-30) Kayiira, Duncan
COVID-19 has proved, just within a year of its advent, that it is a pandemic and a menace with far-reaching impacts on agriculture and food security situation in the East African Community (EAC) region, necessitating applying all available means to put it under effective control and recognizing that it has high propensity levels for mutation, and which complicates decisive, pivotal, and terminal control.
Impact of COVID-19 on Rwanda’s Health Sector
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-10-14) Bigirimana, Noella; Rwagasore, Edson; Condo, Jeanine
Impact of COVID-19 on Trade, Peace and Health System in South Sudan
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-09-30) Malish, John Peter
South Sudan is emerging from devastating conflict that has left thousands dead and millions displaced. The 2018 peace agreement implementation remains elusive as instability persist in some parts of the country. The onset of COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the crisis as government response limited economic activities and increased pressure on the ailing health system. This research explores the impact of the pandemic on the trade sector, underfunded and fragile health system, and fluid peace process in South Sudan.
Impact of COVID-19 on Transport and Logistics Sector in the EAC Region
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-10-08) FEAFFA and Shippers Council of East Africa
The emergence of COVID-19 in 2019 led the WHO to stipulate different containment measures. These measures were adopted by different countries to help limit and control the spread of the virus. The EAC Partner States developed regional and localized containment measures focused on the transport and logistics sector. The implementation of the measures, whilst contributing to the management of the spread of the virus, equally had negative effects to the sector as they affected the different sector players. It was, therefore, imperative to study the impact of the containment measures on transport and logistics and provide related policy recommendations in pursuit of sector competitiveness and trade facilitation.
Macro-Economic Effects of COVID-19 on the EAC Economies
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-09-30) Okumu, Ibrahim Mike
There is no doubt that COVID-19 induced headwinds have rattled the EAC Partner States, the effects of which are: sluggish economic growth; weak private sector credit growth in spite of record low lending rates; weakened external sector and weakened financial sector profitability and return on assets albeit total risk weighted assets; and Non-Performing Loans and liquidity ratios being above the regulatory requirements, implying a resilient financial sector. Consequently, the EAC Partner States adopted expansionary fiscal and monetary policy in combination with COVID-19 containment measures in an effort to abate the distortionary effects of the virus. As such, this study sought to undertake an exploratory study of the policy choices across the EAC Partner States in an attempt to identify areas of policy convergence. Evidently, across all the EAC partner states, both fiscal and monetary policy regimes were expansionary. However, a micro examination of the policy paths shows that both fiscal and monetary policy was more intensive and extensive in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda in comparison to Tanzania, South Sudan, and Burundi; which was partly accounted for by the less than stringent COVID-19 containment measures adopted in Burundi and Tanzania unlike Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya. Particularly in Rwanda and Uganda, the nationwide lockdowns implied that both fiscal and monetary policies had to be deep cutting and wide enough to accommodate the COVID-19 induced economy-wide shutdowns.
State of the EAC Health Sector Amidst the COVID-19 Crisis
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-10-25) Bigirimana, Noella; Rwagasore, Edson; Condo, Jeanine
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic. The COVID-19 burden has been asymmetrically distributed. The EAC region has reported an estimated 7.3% of the cases and 4.4% of the deaths reported in Africa. The report seeks to document the interventions put in place to flatten the curve of COVID-19 transmission, examine the impact of COVID-19 on health outcomes, and describe interventions to mitigate the socioeconomic impact.
Status and Dynamics of Gender Mainstreaming in East Africa Community COVID-19 Social and Economic Response Policies, Strategies and Interventions
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-09-30) Maloiy, Lanoi; Wawire, Violet
The COVID-19 outbreak of 2020 wreaked havoc on the global economy, trade and many social aspects. Africa has not been immune. According to a report by Deloitte (2020), losses to the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are approximated at US$ 9 trillion. The same report predicts that countries in Eastern and Western Africa that have seen an increase in their GDP will have a decline in their GDP in 2020. With such decreases in GDP, the vulnerable and marginalized in society are likely to suffer the most, in particular African women who tend to be poorer and more marginalized than their male counterparts. They also have less access to economic opportunities, education, health and social services.
Technology as an Enabler for Addressing the COVID-19 Challenges in the East African Community
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-09-30) Zgovu, Evious Kingswell
The COVID-19 pandemic has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and damaged economies worldwide. COVID-19 control measures such as social distancing, curfews and lockdowns restricted non-essential physical human interactions, thus impaired production, exchange and consumption of goods and services, and ultimately damaged livelihoods and economies. The EAC Partner States, like other countries in the world, are faced with the challenge of sustaining normal life during the pandemic and setting on a recovery trajectory after the COVID-19 crisis.

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