COVID-19 and the Implementation of Aspiration 1 of the African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Case of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Eswatini

Abstract

This paper assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the implementation of goal 1 aspiration 1 of the African Union (AU)’s ‘Agenda 2063: the Africa We Want’ Framework. It examines how the emergence of the pandemic on the African continent and the ensuing lockdown measures implemented by most African governments, inadvertently led to job losses and financial insecurity for the people. This examination is carried out through the lens of the experiences of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Eswatini. It is asserted that the job losses and financial insecurity suffered by the people in these three countries exacerbated their plight, as these countries were already facing various socio-economic problems even before the onset of the pandemic. The paper also gives an appraisal of the AU’s response to the pandemic including its vaccination strategy and argues that in the face of an unprecedented pandemic, the AU ought to be commended for adopting a swift and proactive approach; commensurate with the anticipated scale of the problem. The paper concludes that the pandemic has laid bare the socio-economic problems faced by African problems, the very same problems which the AU sought to address through Agenda 2063.

This paper was developed whilst I was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (South African Research Chair in International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Johannesburg), PhD (University of KwaZulu Natal).