ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Global South, with a specific focus on sub-Saharan Africa. The point of departure is the acknowledgement that the COVID-19 pandemic bears a paradox for many countries in Africa: The least infected are the most affected. It is argued that while epidemiological and health impacts of COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa are (so far) less severe than anticipated, economic and social impacts are dramatic. Specifically, the rise in extreme poverty due to the pandemic and the increase in food insecurity and hunger in several countries are highlighted as global concerns. Against this background, the discussion addresses the concept of a ‘polypandemic’, that COVID-19 accelerates existing crises, puts development gains at stake, and that the economic impact of the pandemic might shape the continent for years to come. Using the global access to COVID-19 vaccines as an example, the chapter outlines new geostrategic challenges and opportunities referring to lobbying for multilateral solutions by the US, European Union, and other Global North countries and thereby securing the largest part of vaccine doses, leaving the low-income Global South countries, thus enabling China and Russia to increase their spheres of influence through ‘vaccine diplomacy’.
