Autor: Dr. Sascha Arnautović

Governments across Africa have taken measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19. The current flood of information is mainly dominated by official sources, media and expert opinions. But how do Africans see the current situation? What do they know about the coronavirus and how are their lives affected? As the KFIBS Africa Research Unit, we were curious to hear the personal stories. This series of blog entries presents answers from people from different countries to questions about personal changes in life, political reactions and their sources of information. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to these articles.

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It has been more than three months now that the world seems to have completely shut down. This is also true for many African countries, such as Kenya, where the government took measures after the first COVID-19 case was confirmed on 12th March 2020. Based on the idea of physical distancing, these measures include the closure of schools and universities, prohibiting all types of public gathering, a nation-wide curfew from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am, containment in several urban areas, travel restrictions, encouraging working from home and imposing hygiene measures.

While the measures taken by the Kenyan government do not seem to differ much from those European governments have implemented, the economic crisis that followed hit the country particularly hard. It put especially vulnerable and poor households, who often fully depend on self-employment and informal wage, on the edge of survival.

COVID-19 and the Challenges for Kenya’s Informal Sector

The informal sector is a section of the economy that englobes jobs which are not recognized as normal income sources and on which income taxes are not paid. Around 80% of the active population in Kenya works in the informal sector which is often characterized by little or no job security, no pension, insurance or health insurance scheme, as well as low wages and the difficulty to make savings. Without any safety net, informal workers are therefore extremely vulnerable to economic crises and human rights violations.

While many informal workers have lost their jobs, as working from home is particularly difficult for those who work in fields where their physical labour is needed outside the household, those who continue to work outside also face great challenges. For example, travel restrictions for public transportation have led to longer travels when workers have to cover the distance from their home to their workplace by foot, making it difficult for some to respect the curfew. Caretakers, mostly women, who have taken their children to informal day care facilities during the day before, are now struggling to organize for childcare, as the centres have closed down. Many informal workers also lack masks and hand sanitizer, and thus risk an infection with COVID-19 themselves while not having a health insurance.

Workers of the informal sector, who own a private business, are also affected: as others have lost their source of income, demand in many sectors is decreasing. At the same time, due to the closure of borders with neighbouring countries, supply chains have been interrupted, resulting in an increase for the price of certain goods.

Even though the Kenyan government has announced a number of fiscal and social insurance measures to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus, the informal sector will most probably not benefit from these directly. Kenyan informal workers are thus in need of alternative solutions and depend on initiatives of local solidarity.

A New Wave of Kenyan Solidarity

Sometimes great difficulties lead to great initiatives – such as in Kibera, one of Nairobi’s biggest slums, where many inhabitants work in the informal sector. Here, community members walk around weekly, loaded with food baskets and essentials such as soap or washing powder for those in need. In order to finance the products that the volunteers distribute, the organizers of the initiative went online. They started a Facebook group and a GoFundMe campaign in order to raise enough money to buy the much needed food supplies. As of today, they have already raised more than 15.000$ and were able to provide more than 500 food baskets to families in March and April 2020. But also other initiatives in Kibera are trying to help out. There are a lot of small business owners that are trying to give the little they have to the ones that are in need. For example, Chrisantus Oyiera, a young food business entrepreneur, just started his business before COVID-19. Now he is helping out about 20 people on a regular basis:

“I always feel that humanity comes above everything else. It hurts when the Kenyan government shuts down clubs, hotels and other major businesses and leaves millions of the Kenyans jobless and hopeless without food. I just can’t sleep nor eat while someone starves within my watch. That’s why I try to feed those I can reach out for.”

(Chrisantus Oyiera, Nairobi, Kenya)

The “Karen Crusaders Touch Rugby”, a Kenyan group of rugby players, also founded an initiative called “Strengthening the Vulnerable” in order to feed the most vulnerable in Nairobi, that is street families, pregnant women, children, elderly and homeless people in general. Having started out with a group of 30 people, they now reach up to 170 people in need per day and have already supported more than 1800 people with food. Due to a national curfew from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am some families that live on the streets cannot access town, where they normally buy food. The team meets up daily in Lang’ata to cook and deliver the food.

“I have always wanted to make a change in this world but lacked capacity, or so I thought until I came across the phrase ‘extraordinary things are done by ordinary people who have vision, passion and determination’. I stopped making excuses and started with what I had at my disposal and now we are here with a capacity to feed over 500 people and more per day. Everyone is infected or affected in one way or the other: We are just trying to bridge the gap, we are just trying to strengthen the vulnerable.”

(Victor Andanje, Nairobi, Kenya)

The rugby players and their team do not only donate food, but also much needed facemasks, clothes, shoes, blankets and sanitary towels financed by themselves, families and friends. After weeks of hard work, they are now even cooperating with Kenya’s official COVID-19 Emergency Response Team, an arm of the government.

The founders of Yoga Heart Kenya, who run a yoga studio in Nairobi and grew up in the slum of Kangemi (Nairobi), have now turned their attention to supporting communities in the two slums of Kangemi and Kibagare. Their support reaches from installing handwashing stations to the distribution of basic food necessities. They also give yoga classes to fundraise for their campaigns.

While many Kenyans, who work in the informal sector, lost their jobs, others continue to work – such as many security guards in the country’s capital. Because shifts often stretch from the early morning hours until the evening, and the government imposed a strict curfew between 7:00 pm and 5:00 am, many of them cannot reach a supermarket before it closes and thus have to go home to their families empty-handed. Therefore, some neighbourhoods in which the guards work have decided to collect money and do the grocery shopping for them.

“Nick has been keeping our houses safe for the past years, now it’s our time to give back and make sure his family is save even during the current crisis”, one of the neighbours, who supports their guards, explains.

Altering the Image of the Poor

Kenya is often portrayed as a country depending on foreign aid and investments. However, the current global crisis has resulted in a variety of new solidary acts initiated by Kenyans for Kenyans. Although this is not a particularly new trend, and many Kenyans have always supported others, COVID-19 has motivated people who have not done so before to help out and support others on the one hand, and led to new initiatives on the other hand. While this seems to be a global trend, and we were able to observe similar patterns in other countries, we find it particularly important to also hear about solidarity initiatives from Sub-Saharan Africa. We believe that sharing encouraging news from communities and places that are usually reduced to their vulnerability in European media during such troubling times, may alter the image of the “helpless poor” and show another reality of solidarity, self-empowerment and innovation.

This article was written by Samantha Ruppel and Alena Sander.

(Hinweis: Der vorliegende Blog-Beitrag gibt nicht zwingend die Meinung des KFIBS e. V. wieder.)

(Bildnachweis für Beitragsbild: Photo by CDC on Unsplash)

Governments across Africa have taken measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19. The current flood of information is mainly dominated by official sources, media and expert opinions. But how do Africans see the current situation? What do they know about the coronavirus and how are their lives affected? As the KFIBS Africa Research Unit, we were curious to hear the personal stories. This series of blog entries presents answers from people from different countries to questions about personal changes in life, political reactions and their sources of information. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to these articles.

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Traditional and New Sources

COVID-19 has become an omnipresent issue that currently dominates all types of media and information channels. This is true for the modern sources of information like social media and news sites, as well as more traditional ones such as newspapers and radio. When asked about their personal sources of information, our interview partners cited a whole variety, as for example, Nolawit Teshome from Ethiopia did:

“I get information about the virus from official Facebook pages of institutions like the WHO and the local Ministry of Health. Also, I watch local and international news channels like France 24 or Al Jazeera.”

(Nolawit Teshome, Ethiopia)

Most of our interview partners have access to the internet and are young and well-educated. As a recent study from the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) in South Africa suggests, this could be the reason why they referred to the same types of sources, although from different platforms. However, and maybe more surprisingly, also those from rural areas and less educated people seem to have access to the news, as Kamvelihle Mapundu from South Africa told us:

“My grandparents live in the rural areas and they are not formally educated. I was worried that they would not understand what was happening, but when I’d call to check up on them, they showed understanding and they told me that they heard on the radio what COVID-19 was all about and what they needed to do. I feel like things also spread via word of mouth, you know?”

(Kamvelihle Mapundo, South Africa)

This enables people to follow the updates on the virus and its consequences. Given the health risks related to COVID-19, especially for the elderly and people living in very remote areas, this is good news. Nevertheless, the uncontrolled spread of information can also blur the line between serious concerns and unjustified hysteria.

Awareness Campaigns Against Fake News

Crisis and uncertainty naturally inspire imagination and catalyze wide-ranging and rapidly changing misinformation narratives. In some West African countries, such as Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, this happened already during the Ebola outbreak from 2014 to 2016. Now again, some have claimed that Africans have a genetic immunity to the disease, which infectious disease specialists have then denied. The misinformation narratives on the coronavirus also include doubtful healing methods and have related the virus to mysterious technologies like 5G, as one of our interview partners reports. Moreover, certain faith leaders with large amounts of followers tend to oversimplify complex matters when telling that the only thing to do against the spread of COVID-19 is praying. The transmission of fake news seems to be particularly problematic in social media and closed chat rooms, as Mokgeseng Ramaisa from South Africa points out:

“I think we have a definite information problem, especially false news about COVID-19 spreading on WhatsApp groups. I see a lot of this amongst my parents’ generation. There is a lot of objective information going around but is often overshadowed by false and subjective news.”

 

 

Part of the solution against the spread of false information could be private and governmental awareness campaigns that rely on scientific evidence. In some countries, for example, health ministries and network providers have sent messages directly to their citizens to give advice and update people on political measures taken. With an estimated 1000 to 2000 languages on the African continent, one difficulty in making these awareness campaigns accessible to the people is linked to translation. However, as Felix Chabala from Zambia told us, musicians have accepted this challenge and came up with songs in local languages to inform people about coronavirus. In South Africa too, the Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize made an effort and translated his speech in isiZulu, as we learned from Kamvelihle. Deodatha Agricola from Tanzania adds on this:

“The government is communicating through the ministry of health. They have formed different committees; some are moving around to areas where they know there are many people that may not speak English. They speak the language they will understand and deliver the information.”

 

Flood of Information

As we have seen, it may be difficult to find the right sources among the plethora of available information relating to COVID-19. In some respect, we all depend on the judgement of experts and sometimes need to trust official advice we cannot prove ourselves. At the same time, rumors and conspiracy theories may have dangerous consequences by spreading misleading information. To avoid confusion, we therefore all need to find the right balance between blind trust and a critical view, as Rosalie Zobo told us:

“To sensitize friends and acquaintances on how to deal with the coronavirus, I shared my knowledge and expressed criticism about unaudited statements. When I share previously unknown information, I add that people should look on it with a distance. On LinkedIn I also called on people to rely on information from the state and the WHO.”

 

 

 

This article was written by Lennart P. Groscurth with the active support of Sandra M. Dürr, Verena G. Himmelreich, Miriam Kalkum and Samantha Ruppel.

Governments across Africa have taken measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19. The current flood of information is mainly dominated by official sources, media and expert opinions. But how do Africans see the current situation? What do they know about the coronavirus and how are their lives affected? As the KFIBS Africa Research Unit, we were curious to hear the personal stories. This series of blog entries presents answers from people from different countries to questions about personal changes in life, political reactions and their sources of information. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to these articles.

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Starting Point: Opinions from Our Contacts

When it comes to Africa, media coverage is often not particularly differentiated, or so-called experts are presented without questioning their expertise or self-interest. One such example is a German news site that recently interviewed the self-proclaimed philanthropist and billionaire Bill Gates on the subject of COVID-19 and its effects on the African continent. Even though he founded the “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation” with, amongst others, the aim to improve healthcare globally, it is questionable whether he can be considered an expert in virology or an expert on health issues for an entire continent. The same news report did not feature any policy-maker or scientist from the African continent. For this series of blog articles, however, we wanted to talk with people from African countries and not about them. We did not speak to politicians, but we talked to acquaintances and friends. And as Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie stated in her famous TED talk, it is not possible to generalise from one lived experience, but it is important to broaden the external view on the African continent and its people. In the following, we want to present the impressions and opinions regarding the political measures taken in the respective countries.

Public Support for Taking Action

Many African countries have taken much more decisive action against coronavirus than other states. Some reasons may be that a few countries are already Ebola-experienced (and therefore know how to deal with viruses) and in addition had enough time to act before COVID-19 reached the continent. At the same time, not all countries reacted in the same way and some countries barely took any action, such as Tanzania. From South Africa, Kamvelihle Mapundu, Mokgeseng Ramaisa and Percival Quina all agreed that the government acted swiftly: Awareness campaigns were launched and borders were closed, and South Africa went under a strict national lockdown (a curfew was implemented, shops and schools were closed), which was partly lifted already in May 2020. In Ethiopia, according to Nolawit Teshome, the government declared a state of emergency: Schools, universities as well as public transportation were closed. Mildred J. Johnson reported similar restrictions for Namibia: Schools were closed slightly earlier, but essential shops remained open under Phase-1 (strict measures under the state of emergency) of the lockdown. At the moment, there is no curfew in Namibia. But social contact is limited and the number of passengers using public transport restricted. Under Phase-1 long-distance travel, for example, was completely forbidden. But this has been relaxed under Phase-2 (the current state). In Benin, there are also regulations on travel and movement, as Michel Agodji let us know. There are local isolations of districts with infected people. Some governments have set up support programmes. In South Africa, for instance, the government has taken measures to support businesses and poor people during the lockdown. From Rosalie Zobo we know about governmental measures in Senegal to support citizens by helping them with their water and electricity bills. Even though many states reacted quickly, they reacted in different ways. What we also observed in our small sample, however, was (as in many other countries around the globe) a relatively high-level of agreement among our interview partners with the measures taken by their governments. Michel thinks that the government has done a good job, even if he initially feared that the measures would not be taken seriously. And Mwansa Mungela also thinks that Zambia tried to protect the people despite the economic challenges for many families.

“The government response has been multi-sectoral and anchored on ensuring that lives are protected but that the economy also continues to run because most of the Zambian population depends on daily wages for household sustenance.”

Hastings Sichone remarks that it was difficult for governments to react to COVID-19. Percival pointed out the importance of leadership in these times. A question which is worth studying in the future.

Worries About What Is Yet to Come

Nevertheless, our interview partners also raised some critical points: Felix Chabala was not too content with the Zambian government’s actions. According to him, officials underestimated the pandemic and did not implement a sufficiently strict lockdown. Nolawit would like to see stricter law enforcement in Ethiopia. Kamvelihle criticised that despite their lack of training in civilian operations, the military was involved in controlling the curfew in South Africa.

“Which I guess is to be expected when you get soldiers involved in civil matters. They handle people with brute force.”

(Kamvelihle Mapundu, South Africa)

On economic issues, Kamvelihle is worried about the economic consequences and the perpetuation of dependence on the so-called Global North, the IMF and the World Bank. Not only on a global scale, but also on national levels the economy is severely affected. We have heard that public food distributions would be helpful in Senegal, since the income of many people has plummeted due to curfews and lockdown. South Africa and Namibia are already distributing food, for which one has to queue for a long time in some cases. And for many people it is almost impossible to follow the rules.

“But some things don’t work in the African context, for example, social distancing poses a challenge for people who live in informal settlements.”

 

Especially for the youth and people working in the informal sector, the measures to control COVID-19 could have severe effects. Rosalie fears political unrest as consequences, so governments have already to consider strategies to end the lockdown. As a result, we found out that these possible strategies are controversial at the same time, since the reopening of some economic sectors, and especially religious gatherings, could increase the spread of COVID-19 again.

“The churches are opened up as long as social distancing is observed. This is not good because a lot of people will misinterpret that and just behave normally again.”

 

The Take-Home Message from This Little Sample

As we can see, not all African countries reacted in the same way. At the same time, some challenges are the same as for European countries: What is the right balance between lockdowns and gradual liberalization? How to deal with distance working and working from home? What about religious services during the coronavirus pandemic? What would be the consequences of COVID-19 on an economic and a political level?

Yes, it is true, Africa is different from Europe. At the same time yet, African countries differ amongst themselves, and sometimes Europe and Africa have the same questions, but not necessarily the same answers.

 

This article was written by Sandra M. Dürr with the active support of Lennart P. Groscurth, Verena G. Himmelreich and Miriam Kalkum.

 

(Hinweis: Der vorliegende Blog-Beitrag gibt nicht zwingend die Meinung des KFIBS e. V. wieder.)

(Bildnachweis für Beitragsbild: Photo by CDC on Unsplash)

Governments across Africa have taken measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19. The current flood of information is mainly dominated by official sources, media and expert opinions. But how do Africans see the current situation? What do they know about the coronavirus and how are their lives affected? As the KFIBS Africa Research Unit, we were curious to hear the personal stories. This series of blog entries presents answers from people from different countries to questions about personal changes in life, political reactions and their sources of information. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to these articles.

* * *

The Poorest Are Hit Hardest

In many African countries, drastic measures have been taken that influence people’s lives a lot. Even in countries which are not officially on lockdown the population is advised to practice social distancing, reduce their movement to a minimum and only do the most necessary things. But not everyone is able to implement this, as Mildred Johnson from Namibia told us:

“Very low-income earners and self-employed people are hit hardest, because they depend on customers to earn a living. For example, street vendors and open market operators in particular struggle now that their source of income has been taken away from them as a result of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.”

The lack of financial reserves among households is one of the main reasons why many governments refrained from ordering complete isolation or tried to mitigate the devastating effects for day labourers with free food supplies from the government, as for example in Senegal. In South Africa, hard initial rules were withdrawn for similar reasons. However, the economic consequences are not the only problem faced by many people in the closure, making it difficult for them to comply with the recommended measures: “For people living in informal settlements, it is a challenge to distance themselves socially. Depending on the house structure, accommodation can be uncomfortable because the corrugated iron gets very hot during the day. They cannot stay inside under such conditions”, Mildred reports.

“We do not know how long the situation will last, so it’s difficult to plan spending. In many African countries, unemployment is high and the informal sector occupies a large share of the labour market. As a result, the political decision on confinement and curfews have deprived many households of their income and generated domestic violence. There is a risk of public disorder, especially among the most disadvantaged people, who find themselves in a dilemma between starvation and death by corona.”

Social Distancing and Working from Home

These problems, which make it almost impossible for many people to live in a lockdown for more than a few days, seem to be the main reasons why several African governments have already announced a relaxation of the rules. Nevertheless, social distancing is still advisable for those who can afford it. But staying at home is not without its pitfalls. Mildred herself, who works as an educator, currently lives with her little niece and nephew who require home schooling (home education). Sometimes she finds it difficult to concentrate on work. Like her, Mwansa Mungela from Zambia is also currently working from home. However, he has already noticed how quickly his Internet data bundles are being used up by several online meetings and other joint efforts. These are additional costs not covered by most employers. Although the network is well developed, power failures are commonplace for many people. A problem which many of our contacts have to face. However, Mwansa does not see the new situation purely negative:

“My daily routine of catching a bus to work very early in the morning is now suspended and I do not worry about beating the morning traffic. I therefore stay longer in bed and eat more food than I have always done. Since I am usually not very physically tired by the end of every day of working from home, I have adopted the habit of jogging or cycling every evening.”

The New Daily Routine

Yet not everyone can work from home. For example, Deodatha Agricola from Tanzania still goes to work every day. In Tanzania there is no official lockdown but people are taking extra caution. Daily income activities are still possible, but the Tanzanian government advises to voluntarily slow down the movement, avoiding large crowds and limiting their time in public places as much as possible.

“If you go and work as normal you have to be very careful and wash your hands, sanitize as much as you can and now we also wear masks. In the beginning, some people were still ignoring because there was this notion that it is a disease of people who travel by planes. Now it has come to their senses that even people who travel in normal public transport like the Daladalas (minibuses) can get infected and that it is not connected to your job but transmitted through all human contacts and even within families. This makes people more careful. And people now know how to wash hands: Everywhere in front of shops there is a buck of water with soap and hand sanitizer, and people are doing and practicing how they are told.”

Also from other countries we were told that many take the warnings and recommendations seriously. Since face masks are often expensive, some of our interview partners told us that many people currently sew masks themselves. Among other things, colourful local fabrics such as kangas and chitenges are used.

People Should Take It More Seriously

Not everyone is aware of the situation yet and not everyone is already provided with breathing protection: Nolawit Teshome from Ethiopia wishes, just like Mildred, that her fellow human beings would adhere more to social distancing and wear face masks. Nolawit reports that her residential area in Addis Ababa is (still) very crowded and almost all shops are open, which is why she and her husband are currently refraining from going for walks with their daughter. And when they go out, they only do so with a mask and hand disinfectant in their luggage. Like Nolawit, many are worried about their relatives, especially those who belong to risk groups. The news about so many deaths in the so-called Global North is a cause of great concern to many. Nolawit says: “I am now gradually realizing that I can only do what I can and leave the rest to God.”

The Bright Side of Corona

Some of our interview partners told us that the increased time at home can bring the families closer together again, as people now spend more time at home. They finally find the peace to exchange and understand what is happening in the lives of others. However, people outside of their own household are also interested in each other: Mildred observes a great solidarity among the people in Namibia. She tells us that many individuals and businesses are donating food and sanitizers to the needy. In many places, masks are being sewn and distributed, especially to those who otherwise could not afford any.

“There are other things that now have a different significance in life. You are happy for your own health and for what you have.”

(Hastings Sichone, Zambia)

And one learns to appreciate new things like Deodatha who can enjoy riding in Daladalas for the first time because now traffic is calm and there is plenty of space in the minibuses; or Mwansa who is glad that he is no longer stuck in the morning traffic and therefore can sleep a little bit longer.

This article was written by Miriam Kalkum with the active support of Lennart P. Groscurth, Verena G. Himmelreich and Sandra M. Dürr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Hinweis: Der vorliegende Blog-Beitrag gibt nicht zwingend die Meinung des KFIBS e. V. wieder.)

(Bildnachweis für Bild mit den selbst genähten Chitenge-Masken aus Sambia: Fotobestand der KFIBS-Forschungsgruppe „Afrika“)

(Bildnachweis für Beitragsbild: Photo by CDC on Unsplash)

Governments across Africa have taken measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19. The current flood of information is mainly dominated by official sources, media and expert opinions. But how do Africans see the current situation? What do they know about the coronavirus and how are their lives affected? As the KFIBS Africa Research Unit, we were curious to hear the personal stories. This series of blog entries presents answers from people from different countries to questions about personal changes in life, political reactions and their sources of information. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to these articles.

* * *

“The coronavirus is sweeping over mankind.” This is the beginning of a song that was released on 25 March 2020 by the Ugandan musician and politician Bobi Wine. Under the hashtag #DontGoViral, the song which then went viral itself, calls on people not to take COVID-19 lightly. It raises awareness of the disease which, according to the African Union, has to date caused the death of about 2.290 people in Africa (as of 11 May 2020).

Compared to the coronavirus death toll in single European countries such as Germany (7.417), African countries have thus only been lightly touched by the disease so far. Common narratives dominated by official sources, media and expert opinions suggest that the worst for the continent is yet to come. Referring to weak health systems and insufficient capacities in hospitals, epidemiologists have raised concerns about African states’ ability to cope with the virus. In a broader sense, COVID-19 may also lead to food shortages in regions already affected by crisis or droughts. In East Africa, for example, livelihoods of millions of people are currently threatened by a severe locust invasion. Moreover, a lack of remittances due to the global economic recession could exacerbate pressure for the most vulnerable. By contrast, the relatively young population in Africa and the experience already gained from other epidemics such as Ebola could be assets in the fight against the spread of the disease.

With the containment measures, many people around the world are currently sharing the same experiences: The renunciation of cultural activities has become a necessity and the avoidance of personal contact with vulnerable family members a gesture of love. For some, working from home has become normal, whereas many have lost their jobs. In this sense, the current crisis could have some positive effects in bringing the world population closer together. At the same time, the coronavirus has also led to the closing of borders and to xenophobia, forcing people to leave their homes. Faced with this ambiguity, we were curious about the personal stories linked to the exceptional times we are witnessing.

As the KFIBS Africa Research Unit, we asked different people in various contexts how their lives have changed individually, how they perceive the respective national measures and through which media they receive their information and updates. We were also interested in what way the coronavirus affects women and men differently. Besides revealing interesting insights into different perspectives, the project also gave us the very much appreciated opportunity to reconnect and exchange with acquaintances and friends. On this blog, we will present our findings in a series of articles, each with a different focus.

On behalf of KFIBS and all readers, we would like to thank all interview partners who shared their views and gave their consent to publish this blog. Thank you very much for your time and openness!

Among others, the following persons were involved: Mokgeseng Ramaisa (from South Africa), Kamvelihle Mapundo (from South Africa), Percival Quina (queer man from South Africa and graduate in “International Relations”), Michel Agodji (research assistant from Benin), Mildred Johnson (researcher from Namibia), Nolawit Teshome (lady from Ethiopia), Felix Chabala (student from Zambia), Hastings Sichone (Zambian lawyer), Mwansa Mungela (international development practitioner from Zambia), Deodatha Agricola (environmental science and management officer from Tanzania, Rosalie Zobo (Ivorian political analyst living in Senegal) as well as Adnan Mohamed (Ghanaian migrant in Libya).

The above-mentioned personal descriptions in brackets were chosen by our interview partners themselves. Please note that all opinions expressed in this blog are purely personal and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the majority or of the authors. Like ourselves, most of our interview partners enjoyed the privilege of higher education and therefore cannot be considered representative for regions or nations.

By Miriam Kalkum, Sandra M. Dürr, Verena G. Himmelreich and Lennart P. Groscurth

(Hinweis: Der vorliegende Blog-Beitrag gibt nicht zwingend die Meinung des KFIBS e. V. wieder.)

 

(Bildnachweis für Beitragsbild: Photo by CDC on Unsplash)

According to official data from worldometers.info – based on information from government institutions and daily reports released by local authorities – among all Southern American countries infection rate (per million inhabitants) is highest in Ecuador (as of April 26, 2020). In general, official numbers should be suspected especially because they strongly depend on the amount of conducted tests: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay carry out considerably fewer tests than Ecuador (in relation to population size). Yet data regarding the share of positive tested people on the total amount of the tested population suggests that infections are widespread in Ecuador compared to other Southern American countries but also in comparison to strongly affected countries, such as Italy and the US. An analysis conducted by the New York Times concludes that the death toll is 15 times higher than officially reported suggesting that Ecuador is suffering one of the worst outbreaks in the world. The spread of the coronavirus overloads public services and capacities of hospitals are exhausted, especially in the country’s largest city Guayaquil, where dead bodies are lining the streets. The country was on lockdown by the government on March 12. However, government officials recently decided to “relax” quarantine by May the 4th and get public life back on track despite the current dramatic situation. In what follows we offer a specific interpretation of the government’s decision to restart economic and social activity assuming that economic pressure groups have a particular strong effect on political decision-making in Ecuador.

A Brief Description of Ecuador’s Social and Economic Decline

Starting with the social and economic situation before the outbreak of the crisis, official data suggests a rather positive image at first glance: Regarding the official unemployment rate, this was below 5% in December 2019 according to data from INEC. Yet underemployment and inadequate employment (“overemployment”) increased near to 60% in the last three years: Six out of ten Ecuadorians either do not have enough work to earn a sufficient income or are not fully paid for the work they do. Accordingly, poverty is also an issue in Ecuador: If we take income as a yardstick, 25% of the population lives in poverty and 8.9% is extremely poor, which means that they live on less than 1.59 USD per day. Additionally, the government’s economic policy of structural adjustment – demanded by the International Monetary Fund in return for further credits – left more than 55.000 public sector workers unemployed and restricted public investment. Regarding the latter, the public health budget was reduced by 500 million USD within 2019. The real income of public workers has been reduced through extraordinary contributions. The salary of private workers also decreased due to new taxes and the rise of new on-demand applications, such as Uber and Netflix, pressuring competing “traditional” businesses to reduce salaries. Even private investments could not stimulate the economy since they often consist of sending profits to tax havens.

Dismissals, loss of income and precarious work led to less consumption by Ecuadorian families and an aggregate demand crisis affecting the macroeconomic stability of the country. The coronavirus pandemic caused further negative developments for the country: the appreciation of the dollar, which reduced competitiveness for Ecuadorian exports, the drop in the price of oil in February 2020 (the export of petroleum is still one of Ecuador’s most important source of income), the decrease in transfers of money from Ecuadorian citizens living abroad and the contraction of the world economy.

Business-Friendly Policies and Relaxing Lockdown Measures

Traditionally, the power and influence of large commercial groups (importers/exporters) and financiers is considered particularly strong in Ecuador. Respective trade associations, such as the chambers of commerce, usually attempt to influence policy and decision makers with varying success over the last decades. The current government seems to be particularly prone to collaborate with large business groups. Especially the current Minister of Economy, Richard Martinez, formerly president of the National Federation of Chambers of Industries, is seen as business-friendly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, political decision makers are accused by trade unions and the CONAIE federation of indigenous nations of protecting the large industrial and financial companies while neglecting the social sector. For example, this is illustrated by the fact that the government organised 324 million USD to pay obligations for debt bonds during the crisis instead of investing it in public health contradicting even recommendations formulated by international organisations, such as the World Bank.

Since mid-April 2020, the executive has submitted a bill named “humanitarian aid” to the National Assembly. Among others, it includes further reductions of the salary of public servants and – even more alarming from the perspective of the lower classes – the “flexibilisation” of labour allowing contracts of mutual agreement between employers and workers ignoring the statutory minimum wage. This measure might further precarise the conditions of workers due to a high demand for regular jobs in the country paving the way to a “race to the bottom”. Furthermore, on April 28, the Ministry of Labour published a resolution which does not consider COVID-19 as an occupational disease: Workers are now forced to work under any form of working conditions and can be dismissed in case of sick leave.

If we now take a closer look at the decision to allow economic and public life to resume from May 2020 onwards, despite the fact that Ecuador is affected by the coronavirus harder than most other countries, this can be interpreted as a reaction to increased pressure from powerful economic groups and a business-friendly orientation of the ruling politicians. Yet it is evident that the government itself has an interest in opening society in the face of decreasing tax revenue, the lowest level of international reserves since 2005 and the absence of financial support promised by international organisations (e.g. World Bank, International Monetary Fund). Thus the need to reactivate public life is obvious. But in the face of the current situation, it seems also a risky undertaking. Economies might recover but the victims of COVID-19 do not.

By Anderson Argothy Almeida, PhD and Jakob Schwörer

(Hinweis: Der vorliegende Blog-Beitrag gibt nicht zwingend die Meinung des KFIBS e. V. wieder.)

 

(Bildnachweis für Beitragsbild: Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash)