Why has Africa witnessed low Covid-19 death rate despite her poor infrastructure?
There are two credible explanations. The first is that Africans eat organic and natural foods which boosts immunity and prevents diseases as compared to the rest of the world that largely eat genetically modified foods.
Although it is still too early to tell the full impact of the pandemic, it is equally clear that mitigating factors are having positive impact in limiting adverse effects on African populace.
The second reason could be that African governments responded satisfactorily through global solidarity to save their citizens. Whereas the response was not uniform, most countries ignored World Health Organization guidelines and protocols.
Indeed, some leaders dismissed the pandemic on metaphysical grounds. Pierre Nkurunziza, the late former president of Burundi who succumbed to Covid-19, was one such leader.
John Pombe Magufuli dismissed it as simple flu that could be cured through prayer, lemon and ginger concoction.
Africa has poor health infrastructure and all health models painted a devastating picture in terms of deaths projected and related effects associated with the pandemic especially from the economic front considering the quality of life indicators.
In Kenya, the response largely imitated Europe and advice given by the WHO. Kenya, unfortunately, turned its citizens into a captive market as powerful people made billions from the pandemic through corrupt procuring of expensive but useless supplies to the government.
What is more, the economic effects of the pandemic are more devastating than the actual number of deaths. Over 23 million Kenyans have been rendered poor as a result of poor policy response and politicization of the process.
There was shock and fear in the world when Covid-19 struck. The World Health Organization, researchers, and politicians responded to the pandemic in different ways.
Politics of knowledge took the center stage as researchers struggled against time to come up with a vaccine and make money as the early bird. The pandemic had a devastating effect globally but more so in Europe, USA, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.
Africa has poor health infrastructure and all health models painted a devastating picture in terms of deaths projected and related effects associated with the pandemic especially from the economic front considering the quality of life indicators. The modeling and predictions have proven to be far fetched or superficial because in comparative terms, Africa’s Covid mortality rate is far lower and recoveries much higher
The full impact of Covid-19 is yet to be quantified across disciplines but one fact remains uncontested that policy response, corruption, politics and knowledge-based economy shall determine the survival of regimes in Africa.
Corrupt regimes will be voted out while popular revolt against corruption and struggle for social justice and equality might become a popular feature in the evolving world order.
The Covid-19 politics has one lesson learnt by all that no one is secure and an injury to one is an injury to all. Besides that single lesson, it is also a wake-up call to Africa to prioritize research and knowledge as the basis for social transformation.
As was expected, Russia has confirmed and patented its Covid-19 vaccine after a period of research. More vaccines shall follow especially in Britain, China, Israel, India, and Australia.
There is not a single African country that has registered a major breakthrough in terms of vaccine. Most importantly, this has exposed African research institutions and capacity deficit.
Africa military spending is much higher compared to education but most importantly is the willingness of western countries to fund socially irrelevant projects and authoritarian regimes provided their national interests are better served.
As the world awaits defeat of the Covid 19 pandemic, the greatest burden falls on Africa to restructure its education systems and reward its best brains by creating a merit-based society.
The prevailing logic has been to reward mediocrity and punish excellence as a counter revolutionary measure. This is not without interest because in countries such as Kenya, knowledge is treated with suspicion and core professions such as medicine, engineering and science are least rewarded.
In fact Kenyans are more likely to listen to a witch doctor and a DJ than a professor because of the prevailing political culture that celebrate theft, laziness and sloppiness.
While post Covid 19 world order is unlikely to change global power relations, it offers opportunities for Africa to relate more fully with its own environment instead of relying on others for solution or mercy.
