ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book discusses the sense of cautious optimism in many Western countries that the worse of the pandemic is behind them. COVID restrictions are gradually being lifted and fewer people are now dying as a result of a combination of high vaccination rates, less severe strains of the virus. The scale of the economic damage caused by COVID-19 offers an opportunity to fix agelong structural weaknesses, while also minimizing potential adverse longer-term, intergenerational health, economic, social impacts. The various chapters corroborate the need to devise new and innovative paradigms and tools to unlock domestic and external finance for development priorities. Africa must leverage the recovery from the pandemic as an opportunity to prepare itself for the emerging new global economic order. Policymakers must ensure ongoing recovery efforts maximize opportunities for inclusive growth and use the pandemic as a springboard for structural economic transformation.
