The COVID-19 pandemic has had extensive consequences on economies around the world. The contractions suffered by the global economy as countries sought to contain the spread of SARS-Cov-2 – the virus behind the pandemic – have been catastrophic. However, a couple of years after the world arguably put the worst of the pandemic behind it, economies continue to present debilitating side-effects.
Supply chain conniptions associated with pandemic-induced lockdowns continue to drive shortages in the manufacturing sector. Investment in new capacity by businesses compensating for these shortages have, in turn, driven surfeit in sectors where companies now appear more vulnerable to market risks than they did at the height of the pandemic. As spending patterns favour contact-based transactions, the allocation of resources within economies – from manufacturing and remote fulfilment to services – have added new pressures.
While, for still undetermined reasons, Africa came off…