REUBEN ABATI FROM THISDAY
By this time next week, the year 2022 would have ended, and across the world people will speak of a new year with fresh expectations but when we look back on the year that is about to pass, in terms of achievements, high points, successes, failures and experiences, it would be recalled that the year 2022 was indeed more than ordinary. It was the second anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic which up-ended our lives, exposing us all to an international public health crisis, countless deaths, compulsory stay at homes, a redefinition of the world of work, and the depths of human resilience. The year began on a cautious note, as many countries while opening up their borders still insisted on proof of vaccination against COVID. The importance attached to this was most vividly demonstrated when Novak Djokovic, the tennis maestro was denied participation at the January 2022 Australian Open because of his blunt refusal to take the vaccine. He was slammed with a three-year ban from the Australian Open.
As the year progressed, the world opened up further, and whereas in 2022, China still reported cases of COVID in its major cities, and insisted on the zero COVID policy, by year-end, that zero-COVID policy had been significantly revised. It is a much more open world today than it was two years ago. Many international meetings including The African Development Bank (AfDB) conference in Mauritius, in May 2022, Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda, June 2022, the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, in October 2022, Conference of Parties (COP 27) in Sharm El Sheik in Egypt in November 2022 as well as other international events were held in-person or through a hybrid of physical attendance and virtual participation. Airlines took to the skies again in large numbers, the world of tourism bounced back. In October 2022, Hong Kong promised to give away 500, 000 free flight tickets to attract tourists back to the city. In November 2022, one million foreign tourists visited Japan, one month after it fully re-opened. Hitherto, Hong Kong, the Chinese Special Administrative Region and Japan had some of the strictest COVID rules, forcing airlines- Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and American Airlines to suspend flights to the city-state. Wedding parties and events that were suspended in the full swing of COVID are now being held. In 2022, our world began to re-connect. Djokovic has now had his three-year ban from the Australian Open lifted, and hence, in January 2023, the nine-time Australian Open Champion has serious guarantee, without fear of ambiguity, that he will be welcomed back to Melbourne.
The world’s gradual recovery was however abbreviated, very early in the year, when Russia and its President Vladimir Putin declared a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. It was not enough for Putin that he had annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and supported the seizure of territory by separatists in the Donbas region, the 2022 invasion was a direct assault on Ukraine’s right to exist. More than 300 days since the war began, over 14 million people have fled Ukraine as refugees, the largest refugee crisis since World War II, more than 300,000 Russians have also fled their country, Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been damaged, a fifth of Ukraine’s territory is in Russian hands, thousands of people have died. The international community has imposed sanctions on Russia including putting a price cap on Russian oil, the mass exodus of Western companies from Russia including Volkswagen, Toyota, Pepsi, Daimler, LG, Adidas, Burger King, Sony, Siemens Visa, MasterCard Xerox, and many others that have either suspended operations in Russia or have left completely. Russia has also been kicked out of SWIFT, the international payment system, thus disconnecting its financial institutions from the global network. A US-backed global task force has frozen more than $330 billion of assets from Russian oligarchs and the country’s Central Bank. Members of the task force include Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and The European Commission. Affected Russian oligarchs include Suleiman Kerimov whose yacht was seized. Roman Abramovich, the former Russian owner of English football club, Chelsea FC was forced to sell it off without any direct profit. No other event has connected the world together more than the Russo-Ukrainian war.
