SECTION A [30 Marks] Socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 – can globalization prevail in the face of the impeding recession
Posted: Thu May 19, 2022 7:32 am
SECTION A [30 Marks] Socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 – can
globalization prevail in the face of the impeding recession? As the
COVID-19 crisis continues to deepen, the significant health and
economic consequences of this disease is crippling even the most
developed nations. With < 0.5% of globally confirmed cases
occurring in Africa, the continent appears so far to be relatively
spared the untoward direct health consequences of the COVID-19
pandemic. The disease nonetheless has already had a destabilizing
effect on the lives of millions of Africans with disproportionate
impact on the poor and underserved. The interconnectedness that
characterizes globalization has brought economic benefits to many
African countries. With COVID-19, there have been disruptions in
Africa’s global supply chains in the face of tumbling oil prices
and a lowered global demand for African non-oil products, which
constitutes a threat to the economic stability of the continent.
Projected losses from oil shocks alone may result in a reduction in
Africa’s export revenues by about US$101 billion in 2020.This dip
in oil prices will disproportionately put in economic and fiscal
peril resource-dependent countries like Angola, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria as well as other oil importing
African countries. Before the virus spread into Africa, the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) in mid-February 2020 warned the
continent of the impending risk of an economic slowdown as China,
where the virus emerged, is the largest trading partner and foreign
investor of many countries in the continent. Many African countries
are interconnected to affected economies of the United States and
European Union. The growth deceleration in these major economies
will have a negative impact on price of goods exported from Africa
such as mineral ores and metals Conservative estimates suggest that
COVID-19 could cause Africa’s GDP to drop by as much as three to
eight percentage points with projected economic losses of between
US$90 and US$200 billion in 2020 alone The United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) estimate that this pandemic could
result in the loss of nearly half of all jobs in Africa where
unemployment is already a major concern. This is likely to further
aggravate Africa’s fragile economic situation, one in which as many
as 422 million people (one in three Africans) are estimated to be
living below the international poverty line, i.e. $1.90 per day. In
an attempt to fight COVID-19, many African countries have adopted
some international policy trends such as border closures, strict
migration measures, imposition of quarantines, and enforcement of
stay-at-home orders. These measures embody the dialectical quality
of contemporary globalization: on the one hand they reflect the
rapid communicative and even hegemonic nature of global knowledge
exchange; while on the other hand they accentuate boundaries
instead of eroding them and limit interactions across
socio-economic, political, and technological spheres. This
substantial disruption in globalization’s economic integration has
led to retardation of key sectors such as air transportation and
tourism, with a concomitant reduction in trade, remittances, and
investments. In the face of waning official development assistance
to the continent and capital flight, unemployment and food
insecurity is likely to be exacerbated across the continent.
(Source:
https://globalizationandhealth.biomedce ... 81-4//date
accessed 20 th July 2021)
Answer ALL the questions in this section.
Question 1
Examine very briefly the disruptions faced in Africa which was
caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. (6 Marks)
Question 2
Critically examine the social factors in the context of
globalization with appropriate examples. (24 Marks)
globalization prevail in the face of the impeding recession? As the
COVID-19 crisis continues to deepen, the significant health and
economic consequences of this disease is crippling even the most
developed nations. With < 0.5% of globally confirmed cases
occurring in Africa, the continent appears so far to be relatively
spared the untoward direct health consequences of the COVID-19
pandemic. The disease nonetheless has already had a destabilizing
effect on the lives of millions of Africans with disproportionate
impact on the poor and underserved. The interconnectedness that
characterizes globalization has brought economic benefits to many
African countries. With COVID-19, there have been disruptions in
Africa’s global supply chains in the face of tumbling oil prices
and a lowered global demand for African non-oil products, which
constitutes a threat to the economic stability of the continent.
Projected losses from oil shocks alone may result in a reduction in
Africa’s export revenues by about US$101 billion in 2020.This dip
in oil prices will disproportionately put in economic and fiscal
peril resource-dependent countries like Angola, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria as well as other oil importing
African countries. Before the virus spread into Africa, the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) in mid-February 2020 warned the
continent of the impending risk of an economic slowdown as China,
where the virus emerged, is the largest trading partner and foreign
investor of many countries in the continent. Many African countries
are interconnected to affected economies of the United States and
European Union. The growth deceleration in these major economies
will have a negative impact on price of goods exported from Africa
such as mineral ores and metals Conservative estimates suggest that
COVID-19 could cause Africa’s GDP to drop by as much as three to
eight percentage points with projected economic losses of between
US$90 and US$200 billion in 2020 alone The United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) estimate that this pandemic could
result in the loss of nearly half of all jobs in Africa where
unemployment is already a major concern. This is likely to further
aggravate Africa’s fragile economic situation, one in which as many
as 422 million people (one in three Africans) are estimated to be
living below the international poverty line, i.e. $1.90 per day. In
an attempt to fight COVID-19, many African countries have adopted
some international policy trends such as border closures, strict
migration measures, imposition of quarantines, and enforcement of
stay-at-home orders. These measures embody the dialectical quality
of contemporary globalization: on the one hand they reflect the
rapid communicative and even hegemonic nature of global knowledge
exchange; while on the other hand they accentuate boundaries
instead of eroding them and limit interactions across
socio-economic, political, and technological spheres. This
substantial disruption in globalization’s economic integration has
led to retardation of key sectors such as air transportation and
tourism, with a concomitant reduction in trade, remittances, and
investments. In the face of waning official development assistance
to the continent and capital flight, unemployment and food
insecurity is likely to be exacerbated across the continent.
(Source:
https://globalizationandhealth.biomedce ... 81-4//date
accessed 20 th July 2021)
Answer ALL the questions in this section.
Question 1
Examine very briefly the disruptions faced in Africa which was
caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. (6 Marks)
Question 2
Critically examine the social factors in the context of
globalization with appropriate examples. (24 Marks)