22 Jul Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On Peace And Security In Africa

Silencing the Guns or Silencing a Virus in 2020? APSTA Survey Series

This survey showcases the analyses proffered by experts, scholars and stakeholders on the “Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on peace and security in Africa”. They considered the continent’s prevailing risks of international exposure, size of urban population, strength of health systems and above all, weak early warning and early response systems. They warn that the risks for Africa remain real and frightening, even as the pandemic displays a flattening plateau in most countries as at mid-April 2020 with close to 2 million cases and above 120, 000 deaths globally. They argue that Africa must not bask in the euphoria of a false sense of security created by the statistical estimates about the continent suffering less than 1 per cent in both cases of infection as well as deaths globally, or less than 3 per cent of both in relation to the United States.

They aver that the best option for Africa is certainly not containment, as the continent remains a non-starter in terms of infrastructure and reliable data to address the multidimensional impacts. They underscore mitigation and prevention through restrictions and social distancing, averring that the pandemic should serve as a wakeup call to the African Union and the Regional Mechanisms on strengthening early warning and early response, among other measures, beyond the appointment of envoys to “solicit rapid and concrete international support in an effort to deal with the economic impact of COVID-19 on the African continent”.

The COVID-19 pandemic is certainly not going to be the last that the world would ever know. The 1918 Influenza Pandemic (H1N1 Virus) was more devastating; affecting over 500 million people and killing an estimated 50 million people, but had slipped through history as the ‘’forgotten pandemic’ due to overshadowing influence of WWI. The survey, against this background, X-rays associated anxieties, expectations and preliminary lessons as perceived by the experts across the five designated regions of the African Standby Force. Considering dire capacity deficits being exposed, it highlights critical implications of the pandemic for training and capacity building for African Peace and Security Architecture by African Training Centres and Regional Economic Communities as well as Regional Mechanisms. Moreover, it underscores crucial recommendations for African Union Agenda 2063 including the flagship initiative of Silencing the Guns in 2020, which is now being challenged by the existential threat of “Silencing a Virus in 2020” instead.