YOMI ADEMOLA

Yomi Ademola, Rendeavour’s country head in Nigeria, reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic which has disrupted industries and organisations the world over during 2020 and explains there was no ‘how to’ guide on how to manage it. “Much of the developed world entered the crisis in bad shape,” he explains. “Productivity growth is at the lowest levels since the industrial revolution and fiscal deficits and levels of debt are at historically high levels in many countries. Much of the developed world will enter 2021 ‘buried in debt.’”

“There is limited support in the developed world for the kind of conventional economic policies that are normally promoted after a crisis, e.g. austerity, measures to balance the fiscal books and reduce debt. There is also a backlash against international trade and international openness in many developed countries. In other words, the conventional view is exactly the opposite of what the World Bank and IMF normally advise or require African countries to do in such situations. Instead, in response to the crisis, big spending policies, printing money, much greater government involvement in the economy and increased trade barriers may be in vogue in many developed countries.”