Africa is most vulnerable to infectious diseases and digital inequality according to the latest risks report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Mercer, part of Marsh & McLennan. This results in employment and livelihood crises, youth disillusionment and economic stagnation. The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened this impact, particularly on poor and vulnerable people.
“Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic recovery lags global growth due to slow Covid-19 vaccinations," says Isaah Mhlanga, executive chief economist at Alexander Forbes.
Already the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says beyond the direct dramatic human consequences, the Covid-19 crisis will have a long-term, strong adverse impact on Africa as it severely hits its economies.
Mhlanga says the continental free trade area could play a key role in mitigating the severe economic consequences of Covid-19 with positive impact on many sectors, economic growth, and economic gains.
“Business and consumer sentiment has been boosted in countries which have made major progress in the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out. This should give impetus for Africa to step up efforts to vaccinate up to 60% of the population by the end of next year, to ensure that the continent achieves herd immunity against the virus," he says.
“Employers will be expected to brief employees about the vaccine in general and advise on the process of taking the vaccine. Current efforts are geared towards keeping employees safe until they get vaccinated. The vaccine is not mandatory and therefore in line with government strategy employers are not mandating the vaccines. However, there are ongoing discussions among organisations based on certain job requirements which may require employees to be vaccinated to travel, as an example,” says Risha Isaac, health and benefits consultant at Mercer.
The Mercer survey conducted at the end of 2020 found that 64% of companies anticipate significant change in their health and benefits strategy as a response to the Covid-19 outbreak and 70% of companies reported that they have implemented psychological counselling for employees to help them with stress and anxiety.
“If 2020 is anything to go by it has proven the importance of health insurance coverage. Ensuring employees have access to the right level of care even at the most uncertain times is of high importance and employers have a significant role to play in the vaccine rollout," Isaac says.
Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa plan to vaccinate between 60% and 70% of the population by the end of 2022 against Covid-19. Isaac observes all three countries are following a similar phased roll-out, starting with healthcare workers, essential workers, elderly people, those with co-morbidities, and then the rest of the population. All procurements are being made through governments now and are to be distributed freely.
However, Africa shows potential within the mobile sector as 77 % of Africa’s population have access to mobile technology. This is a lag relative to the rest of the world, but Africa is making significant strides in increasing coverage across the continent. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Africa achieved 21% growth in 4G rollout in 2020.
“Multinationals in Africa have shifted to a more deliberate focus on employees, looking after employees, keeping employees safe, and protecting and providing for them to ensure that the benefits they offer employees cover pandemics and the anticipated secondary health crisis that will come because of the deferred treatment,” says Craig Bentley, executive, multinational consulting at Alexander Forbes.
