COVID-19 — Africa’s Response
The APRM report seeks to facilitate evidence-based policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis
Ihave been working on African issues in different capacities for some 30 years — as an academic, in the policymaking space, and as foreign policy practitioner. But I didn’t see the phenomenon that is COVID-19 coming. The reason for this is in our assumptions, or paradigms — that is, assumptions we make about the external world as something that exists independently of us.
We are part of this reality as a biological life form, and we can only experience the external reality via our senses.
Through these senses, we build what we consider to be a body of knowledge; in some cases, this body of knowledge poses as science.
We live in the realm of doubt and probability because, factually, we don’t really have a full picture of what is out there, the reality that exists outside of our senses.
These assumptions are reflected in the tools we have developed to assist our senses make better and proper sense of reality and the future, which also resides in the domain of the unknown.
These tools range from our microscopes and telescopes to formulae and theories we have to help our senses process and make sense of external reality.
For us who work for bodies such as the African Union, we have analytical and forecasting tools that we use to determine and generate data about the physical facts of our world.
We analyse this data and try to make projections about the future. The problem with assumptions is that, in as much as they empower our senses to enable us to engage with the external reality in a better way, they also create blind spots for us.
Assumptions are like a vehicle – a beautifully built vehicle. We sit inside it and drive on the highway. But this vehicle has blind spots.
Its structure and your sitting position may prevent you from seeing certain things; even things that could be of danger to you and your car.
We make up for this weakness in our cars by turning our necks to check the blind spots, but in life we don’t always turn our necks. We take our assumptions for granted and as being self-evident.
We miss so many things because of the many blind spots; we miss even those things that pose an existential danger to us.
Our assumptions are not fixed. Some are scientifically determined; others are the product of our socialisation and culture; and others are derived from our religious beliefs. These assumptions are also not fixed; they change with time.
In many cases, our assumptions alter because of cataclysmic changes in the world, or within countries, such as a world war, a famine or a flood.
The end of the Cold War at the beginning of the 1990s was one such cataclysmic change, one that led to not only the end of the former Soviet Union, but also led to the creation of new states in Eastern Europe. The independence of South Africa was also a product of this historical moment.
We are now at another turning point in history due to COVID-19, and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) will be affected, particularly its methodology and tools.
The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed the first recession in 25 years, with a devastating impact on lives and livelihoods.
Vaccines have not reached many African countries: the rollout systems are exposing weaknesses within governance and social systems, and testing our countries’ abilities.
The average African economy contracted by 2.5% in 2020, while massive job losses, businesses closing and lack of access to resources have further exposed underlying inequality. The number of people living in poverty in Africa is expected to rise by an alarming 29-million in 2021 alone, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
These challenges continue to prove to be beyond any government or stakeholder group’s scope to address on their own. Fortunately, a growing movement of open government champions across Africa — arising from governments and civil society — is showing an alternative, more hopeful path forward.
For years to come, historians will debate not only the impact of COVID-19, but also whether it was exacerbated by negligence on the part of decision-makers who had assumed, across the board, that humanity had triumphed over disease because of our advances in science. A disease doesn’t become pandemic on its own. This happens when humans, who are themselves vectors of the disease, fail to cope with it.
Our belief in our “triumph” over disease was not unfounded. Thanks to our microscopes, disease is no longer invisible to us; most are not invincible in the face of our vaccine technology and effective medical treatment.
In her article How pandemics shape social evolution, published in the October 2019 issue of the journal Nature, Laura Spinney refers to “a pervasive, dangerously complacent attitude in the late 1960s”, whereby “international public-health authorities were predicting that pathogenic organisms, including the parasite that causes malaria, would be eliminated by the end of the twentieth century”.
Christian Mcmillen observed in his “Pandemics: A Very Short Introduction” (2016): “The 1918 influenza pandemic was an event. Unlike malaria and tuberculosis — the perpetual pandemics — influenza comes and goes. In this way it is more like smallpox or plague. Of course those two diseases are no longer major global threats. Influenza is. When H5N1 appeared in humans in 1997, and the novel strain of H1N1 turned up in 2009, the world was reminded of the possibility of another 1918. It has not happened yet.”
Motivated by a duty to contribute to how Africa can respond to this pandemic, the APRM thought it would be worthwhile to establish how its member states are acting to combat the spread of the virus and to deal with its impact on their people and economies.
It has compiled a report that recounts efforts by various institutions and provides recommendations for countries to adopt, such as ensuring their COVID-19 containment measures protect human rights.
This report seeks to provide comprehensive information on COVID-19 and the various governance responses, measures and strategies that have been implemented by member states.
More importantly, the report seeks to facilitate evidence-based policy responses to the crisis and to enable information sharing.
It employs a scientifically sound, horizonscanning consolidation of trends with a view to mapping out the multi-sectoral policy responses across the continent.
Its primary methodology was the collection of data through APRM national structures and to study the context and responses to the pandemic in all African states across all five regions.
The report notes that the outbreak of COVID19 has compelled governments and multilateral agencies across the globe to reflect on the nature and effectiveness of public institutions.
It concludes with a set of recommendations for consideration by the African Union (AU), member states and the APRM.
Professor Eddy Maloka is the Chief Executive, APRM Continental Secretariat
Humanity is facing an unprecedented health crisis, one that has taken the lives of millions of people around the world and has repercussions for all socioeconomic sectors. This crisis has transformed our everyday habits and behaviour.
The cause of this health crisis is a virus called COVID-19, which originated in China and has spread across the world exponentially.
Even today, the coronavirus continues its ravages; specialists in epidemiology and public health only predict the end of the health crisis in several years’ time.
The nature of COVID-19 response measures and how states go about enforcing these measures have led to the emergence of a wide range of governance and human rights problems. The concern is that we face the danger of the COVID19 pandemic descending into a human rights emergency.
It is not simply a health challenge. Even as a health challenge, for us it also essentially constitutes a pressing human rights issue. The morbidity and mortality that the virus causes represent a serious threat.
COVID-19 is also a human rights issue. It threatens the right to health and the right to life, the most fundamental of our rights. It is on this account that the African Commission issued the first statement of the AU human rights system, on 28 February 2020.
This has underscored the imperative and legal necessity within the framework of Article 1 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights to proactively take measures for protecting people from the threat that COVID-19 poses to their health and lives.
Each region and country in the world is organising to curb the spread of this virus and to mitigate its socioeconomic impacts by taking a series of measures.
In Africa, the specialised institutions and organs of the African Union as well as the Regional Economic Communities (RECS) are co-ordinating with the governments of member states to overcome this pandemic and to relieve the populations of the negative effects.
In this regard, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is working hard in a co-ordinated manner with the African Union Commission and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to propose adequate solutions to member states, so a robust response to this pandemic can be formulated.
The APRM as a self-assessment instrument on governance in Africa must also do its introspection in light of this unprecedented situation to adapt and to improve its tools and methodological approaches in order to respond in advance, and to propose solutions to member states in terms of resilience to shocks and
disasters of this type.
This preliminary report on the response of AU member states to COVID-19 is the contribution of the APRM to the collective effort to counter the spread of the virus and to mitigate its effects in Africa.
The report gives an overview of the health situation in AU member states, and particular in terms of lethality, morbidity and mortality due to the coronavirus, as well as the various measures and strategies put in place by AU member states to counter the effects of this pandemic.
After a scientifically conducted analysis, based on the reality of the facts reported by the Regional Economic Communities (RECS) and the countries, the report presents recommendations on matters of governance that the member states should implement individually and/or collectively to achieve the following: curb the spread of the virus, mitigate its effects, and prepare a response in the event of a disaster such as this in the future.
The purpose of this preliminary report is to provide content that can be used to enrich the debate on the governance response to COVID-19 on the continent. The report is not the final statement on the question of an effective governance response to the pandemic. It seeks to support the articulation of evidence-based governance responses in member states and to facilitate sharing of tested approaches on the governance response to COVID-19.
Additionally, the report provides a basis for the assertion that an effective governance response would enhance the effectiveness of efforts in the public health, biomedical, economic and social spheres.
This report will also be included in all the knowledge products developed by the AU organs and governments of member states on this subject in order to guide decision-making for the response and to guide reforms in governance in Africa.
The report is addressed primarily to AU organs, the regional economic communities and the governments of the member states.
As regards the member states, the report recommends, among others, that governments should establish inclusive national institutional and legislative mechanisms for disaster management. Governments should also decentralise responsibilities and capacities for disaster management, while implementing containment measures within a framework that respects the rule of law and the human rights of citizens.
Secondly, the report is addressed to the general public, particularly to academia/researchers and all those who are interested in governance in general.
As pertinent governance questions arise regarding the balance between human freedoms and public health and safety concerns in relation to COVID-19, the world, including Europe and North America, continue to suffer steady economic and social declines as a direct result of their lockdown policies, which constrain movement in the populations, and constrict the movement of goods and provision of the full spectrum of services. The implications for economic, civil, political and social freedoms are clear. These freedoms have now been rolled back and limited as countries pursue the public health and safety goals needed to curb the pandemic.
A challenge for governance during the epidemic is determining the form and duration that this policy may be applied without a significant rollback in development gains, livelihood and/ or infringement of fundamental human rights. To date no quantitative benchmarks have been established by multilateral institutions, in either public health epidemiological terms or national economic terms, to guide countries in the phased implementation of these measures.
The application of the policy remains experimental and the political ramifications for Africa may be serious if the proportion of the population in favour of lockdowns diminishes due to pressures the policy imposes on livelihoods.
Finally, I would like to thank all those who contributed to the preparation of this report, starting with the Chief Executive of the APRM Secretariat, Professor Eddy Maloka, who has spared no effort to carefully supervise the technical production of this report, despite the difficult situation of lockdown imposed in South Africa.
My thanks also go to all my fellow members of the APRM Panel of Eminent Persons who, through their very relevant comments, have improved the quality of this report.
Finally, I would like to thank the members of the working group from selected APRM member countries for their support in drafting this report.
I invite member states to take ownership of the recommendations contained in this report and implement them effectively.
It will guide decision-making for responding to the pandemic and create guidelines for
future occurrences
On 8 June 2020, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) held a virtual launch of its Preliminary Report on Africa’s Governance Response to COVID-19 attended by various stakeholders, including APRM’S chief executive, Eddy Maloka.
The virtual launch came shortly after several African Union member states went into strict lockdowns, introducing severe COVID-19 restrictions, travel bans and quarantine measures in a desperate bid to curb the spread of the pandemic and to minimise physical contact.
This preliminary report presents the outcomes of a study conducted to examine Africa’s governance response to the new coronavirus. It presents a summary of the immediate measures, and medium-term and long-term policy responses to COVID-19, which was designated a pandemic on 11 March 2020.
The aim of the study, which recounts efforts by the African Union led by President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and the various agencies of the Union, was meant to place governance at the centre of the response to COVID-19 pandemic in the African continent.
According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC), the scale and magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa constituted a cause for great concern.
The preliminary report highlighted commendable policy responses that have been adopted during this period and presents recommendations for the AU and member states in the biomedical, public health, economic and governance spheres.
These included the ratification of the African Risk Capacity Treaty (ARC Treaty) as well as the assessment of the scientific, technological and institutional capacities of member states, including their capacities for vaccine research and development, to contribute to enhancing their ability to prepare for and manage disasters.
Recommendations for AU member states called for countries to ensure that their COVID-19 containment measures protected human rights, among others.
During his opening remarks, South African Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu emphasised the wisdom of collective action and collaboration in order to defeat the pandemic.
Both Mchunu and Maloka said that the report was an indication of what could be achieved through working together as African states without negating national sovereignty, but rather banding together to solve a crisis that had engulfed the entire continent.
“The APRM is a mechanism envisaged to promote good governance and socioeconomic development through the adoption of policies, standards and good practices that will lead to political stability, economic growth and sustainable development on the African continent. The APRM uses a holistic review process that distinguishes the mechanism from other institutions through inclusive dialogue, independent and objective reviews, peer learning and compliance monitoring,” said Mchunu.
The Minister of International Co-operation, Dr Naledi Pandor, also attended the virtual meeting and applauded the AU’S ability to continue working during these trying times as well as the establishment of the African COVID-19 Response Fund, which has thus far received $26-million in pledges, and the Africa CDC, which had also raised $35-million in pledges.
“This is commendable considering that nine African countries have had their credit ratings downgraded to junk status since the breakout of the pandemic in Africa,” said Pandor.
She added that the pandemic had exposed the inequalities in healthcare and further brought to light research and innovation gaps.
During his opening remark, APRM Focal Point in Chad, Khayar Oumar Deffalah, cautioned that COVID-19 had almost eclipsed other pandemics that Africans are grappling with; as a result, they receive little or no media attention.
He urged that the final report should include strategies for malaria, Ebola and other diseases, as their effects were also devastating on the African continent, especially on children.
The first case of COVID-19 in Africa was reported in Egypt on 14 February 2020. By 16 May 2020, 54 countries in Africa had reported more than 81 613 cases and about 2 707 deaths from the new coronavirus.
Although African countries have resources to pay for the reagents, they are unable to purchase them because of restrictions on export of medical materials in most countries.
The epidemiology of the epidemic in Africa presented below, therefore, may offer a mere indication of the actual situation.
From a governance response perspective, such a challenge requires multilateral interventions in mediating and reshaping international cooperation in times of crises.
Co-operation across Africa is starting to happen, and Africa CDC had a plan to distribute one million test kits by mid-may 2020 across the continent.