This opinion paper discusses the likely effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on industry and the economy, which in the SSA context, has the potential of putting people’s lives at equal risk as contracting the virus. On this basis, the article develops policy recommendations that are likely to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 in the short and medium term, and ensure the necessary continuation and reshaping of industrial businesses given the region’s poverty and dependence on foreign markets.
The full force of the COVID-19 pandemic might not have yet hit the Arab world, but economic contagion has certainly arrived.
As China emerges from the coronavirus crisis, the government is assessing the opportunities and challenges as it looking to further invest in ICT and other digital technologies as part of the country’s recovery efforts.
Governments around the world are taking extraordinary measures to mitigate the economic fallout of COVID-19. Their decisions in the weeks and months ahead will shape our lives for years to come. The fiscal packages that are being adopted as well as the funding that central banks are making available will have significant effects on livelihoods.
COVID-19 is killing people and setting our economies on fire. While the world is saving lives and fighting the fire, a lurking question is how we are going to rebuild our economies when the pandemic is under some form of control. Should we build back our old economic “house” that has contributed to the spread of new diseases in the first place?
COVID-19 has quickly developed from a global health crisis into a severe economic one. But this may be an opportunity to restructure our economies and channel funds into green investments.
Tasked with managing funds related to environmental protection and conservation, Indonesia’s Environmental Fund Management Agency provides a unique financing mechanism to help meet the country’s climate goals.
Tools and Initiatives
As governments around the world earmark billions of dollars in unprecedented stimulus packages and ask whether it will be enough to avoid a long and difficult recession, another important question comes to mind: how can we ensure these stimulus packages include targets on environmental performance, social cohesion, and economic governance?
A group of Lund University researchers revisited assessments of policy initiatives from last decade’s global economic meltdown to see which will work – and which will not – to help transition to a green economy in a post-coronavirus world.
Balanced inclusive green growth (BIGG) that harmonizes social, environmental and economic aspects is the right formula towards achieving sustainable development and building resilience in the face of pandemics, climate change and long-standing global challenges like poverty.