COVID-19 in Africa: a comparative analysis of early policy responses

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has caused turmoil around the world. In Africa, some similarities and differences could be observed in the nature of the outbreak and the policy responses across the continent. This article discusses the policy responses and reflects on their effectiveness as a containment strategy. We speculate on why these strategies seem to work or not, and the lessons therein. The analysis also examines the setting up of crisis teams and whether they indicate lack of trust in the existing public administration system. The article argues that though South African cases and testing diverged significantly from the rest of the continent, a wider similarity can be observed in pandemic management across the continent. The article identifies some factors including quick and early measures, recent experience managing epidemic/health crises, and a display of some form of community resilience acquired over years of living in a state of poor governance as some of the important factors in the management of the pandemic. We find there is a dearth of scholarship on crisis management in the context of public administration and suggest this should be an object of future study in the field. The use of ad-hoc crisis teams that assume emergency powers is a common practice, but there is insufficient rigorous analysis to show their effectiveness and impact on existing bureaucratic institutions.