Impacts of COVID-19 on sustainable development in Africa

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic affected all countries in the world, including high-income countries in Europe and North America, and low-income countries in Africa and South America. It led to the partial closure of most economic and social activities. The pandemic created disruptions that led to significant economic loss. In 2020, huge amounts, unbudgeted expenses, were invested globally as epidemic control expenses. The spending was targeted at returning normalcy to the world as quick as possible. This paper reviews the sustainable development goals and presents implications in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. The evidence emanating from the review informed the recommendation that the sustainable development goals shape and inform recovery plans from COVID-19. It emphasizes that lingering issues around climate change induced by anthropogenic activities such as greenhouse gas emission and deforestation place a demand on countries to bring the solutions to issues addressing biodiversity crises and income inequalities. The paper concludes that the coronavirus pandemic demonstrates that countries will only be able to protect themselves from global pandemics if health systems are strengthened through adequate funding.