COVER STORY
BY SHAUN JAYARATNAM
Re-imagining and re-engineering Africa ’ s future
It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it . – Nelson Mandela
The covid19 changed our world in a matter of months . The world as we knew it is over , a new normal is upon us . A brave new world is shaping up opening audacious possibilities that never existed before . If you think about it in many ways we have been presented with a clean slate .
We can choose our path , a freedom of choice that can make us or break us . The current decade would be decade of change .
WHAT FUTURE DO WE WANT ?
The question is – do we want to go back to where we were , do we recover , or do we reconstruct ? What kind of economy we want ?
Covid-19 sends a powerful message to all leaders around the world : they need to adjust to a new normal .
An economy is a tool designed by a government led by a leader ; it facilitates a country to reach the goals it sets . No government nor policy will ever be perfect ; hence an economy must keep on designing and redesigning till it arrives at its goal , achieving collective happiness , and prosperity for its citizens and if ever it ’ s possible equality for all .
The African Development Bank estimates that the pandemic has cost Sub-Saharan Africa between US $ 35 - $ 100 billion due to an output decline and a steep fall in commodity prices , especially the crash in oil prices . The World Economic Forum estimates that global losses for the continent will be in the order of $ 275 billion .
Africa imports almost 100 % of its pharmaceuticals , with India and China accounting for 70 % of the imports . The pandemic has brutally exposed the fragility and weakness of Africa ’ s industrial capabilities and health and pharmaceutical sector , the two are complementary .
Governments have an important role to play in the nature and direction of industrialization . Progressive governments throughout
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