Asking the Right Questions

Africa Versus The Virus 

Watching COVID-19 enter Africa is like watching a movie in slow motion. In fact, some would insist it is like watching a movie on repeat, like deja vu, based on our prior Ebola epidemic experience.

The current situation with COVID-19 has afforded us time and learning as we recorded the horrific statistics in other countries before the virus was finally imported south, into African countries. Yet the primordial global fear now is: how will Africa handle it?

Ebola was a vital opportunity to experience a health emergency that affected several countries simultaneously and was transported intercontinentally based on our global interactions. This was a wakeup call to the need for integrated systems as a continent, as well as global health strategies that could have served us better at this time. Viruses know no borders. But did Africa go back to sleep post Ebola?

Taking into consideration the clichéd ‘fragile healthcare systems’ of our continent, and without the resources to change that overnight, what are the real options at this time?

In the absence of strong systems, moral leadership could be the difference between life and death. Those who are charged with making the crucial decisions, how are they measuring up? If you had the chance to cast your vote over again, would you have voted for the same people, knowing they would be in charge at this crucial time?

We have seen great leadership emerge in the midst of crises, not just this one. Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand has been doubly tested within a one-year span. Her empathy in the midst of a terror attack against the Muslim community was globally acclaimed, and, she seems to be passing this test also. Suze Wilson has called Ardern’s Coronavirus response ‘a masterclass in crisis leadership’.

Norway’s prime minister, Erna Solberg, held a press conference specifically for children, to allay their fears and answer the kinds of questions that only children would be brave enough to ask so we can all better manage the changes that Coronavirus has mandated.

The widespread praise we have given these leaders reflects a world hungry for something new. This should result in a new global standard and a self-assessment on the role we will all play, collectively and individually, in establishing a new social compact.

We have also witnessed authority on autopilot, trying to conduct business as usual by wielding power without bringing the people along. ‘US’s Global Reputation Hits Rock Bottom over Trump’s Coronavirus Response’screams Simon Tisdall’s recent Guardian article. From the cries of ‘fake news’ early in the pandemic and the disproportionate death toll of African Americans, to the alleged hoarding of medical goods at the expense of allied countries, some have seen this as a clear example of what not to do in a crisis.

Those insisting on doing business as usual as individuals are already being left behind as leaders. The world is saying quite emphatically: this is not what we need at this time. In the same vein, I foresee nations who insist on going back to the old ways and not adapting to this new world also being left behind.

Is the world ‘closed for repairs’ or ‘closed for refurbishment’? Will we emerge renewed and better or are we just patching things over with short-term empathy before returning to our old ways?

Once this pandemic is over and the world has reset itself, we cannot go back to sleep. Let us leverage this health emergency resurgence to stay vigilant about who we want to be as a people and who should lead us. COVID-19 seems to have started the revolution to ensure that we lead in service of humanity and build systems that reduce fragility. 

As Václav Havel stated so succinctly in a 1995 speech at Harvard University, ‘The main task in the coming era is something else: a radical renewal of our sense of responsibility. Our conscience must catch up to our reason, otherwise we are lost’.

If the earth is ‘closed for repairs,’ let us deliberate on the role we want to play as individuals and as a human collective in building just and equitable societies and in nurturing our globe for all of our survival in a post-Coronavirus world.

Our continent has seen too many cycles of manifestos not implemented, of promises not kept and, as a result, millions of dreams unfulfilled. We have experienced major leadership gaps in varying degrees, from savage incompetence to brutal dishonesty. If we can use the Coronavirus pandemic to reset the world, then we can use it to leap into transformative leadership for Africa.

Let us be deliberate in the kind of leadership we allow to flourish in order to get the world we crave. From my perspective, Reader, I ask a most pertinent question: With the right leadership, what could Africa be post COVID-19?