Globalisation in the time of COVID-19: repositioning Africa to meet the immediate and remote challenges The role of economic policies and collaborative efforts in mitigating the effect of COVID-19 In dealing with the pandemic and its socioeconomic impact on African nations, it is vital that interventions focus on women, children, individuals with disabilities, youth, older people, low-income workers, and small and medium enterprises. These and other vulnerable groups, such as those working in the informal sector, internally displaced individuals, and refugees, are more likely to suffer the devastating social and economic consequences of the virus. These socioeconomic consequences could precipitate health problems such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidality, child abuse and intimate-partner violence among these vulnerable groups. Providing loans and credit guarantees with limited conditionality can be one means to invigorate private sector participation in continuing economic productivity, increase the liquidity of small-scale businesses, and limit job losses. Such financial assistance may have to be provided directly by African governments by utilizing innovative strategies. Groups such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Investment Bank are making funds available to Africa, but primarily as loans. This will only increase the debt burdens already being carried by most of these countries. Already, many African countries have risky debt profiles as 24 of the 47 countries have current account deficits that exceed 5% of their GDP, with the external debts of six countries exceeding 40% of their GDP. The existing weak fiscal capacity of African countries, however, could be bolstered by providing international or multilateral financial assistance as grants, rather than as loans and by suspending or cancelling much of their current debt owed to relevant financial bodies (such as development banks, the IMF, and bilateral donors). The G20 countries in April did agree to suspend debt payments for poor countries (most of which are in Africa), which will free up US$20 billion for government COVID-19 interventions. This one-year suspension will provide some fiscal space for governments to focus on crafting economic relief packages with limited (if any) policy conditionalities (notably renewed austerity) that would otherwise be likely to constrain future health and social protection spending. But the amount is considered woefully inadequate relative to need, and should be extended to all forms of multilateral and privately held debt. The current pandemic crisis also presents an opportunity to explore new strategies for diversifying African economies and limiting their dependence on external funding (whether loans, grants, or investments) by promoting trade and a more regionalised (continental) form of globalisation. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) (among 54 of the 55 African Union nations, with only Eritrea so far now yet signing the agreement) which was due to commence in July 2020 may hold some promise in this regard. The driving principle behind AfCFTA is to eliminate tariffs over a five to eightyear period for 90% of goods, with eventually all tariffs on all goods removed, to promote trade in goods and services between African countries. This agreement could be activated and, although its economic benefits are being overstated, stimulus packages could be provided to facilitate cross-border trade in the continent. There are critiques of the AfCFTA agreement, that not all countries within the same continent are equal (indeed, just three countries - Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt - account for over 50% of the continental GDP), and the larger, wealthier ones could quickly come to dominate continental markets without compensatory social agreement. Past history of trade agreements further suggests that benefits generally accrue to already economically elite groups, and Africa is already one of the world's most economically unequal regions. Specific policies will need to be built-in to circumvent such unfavourable outcomes. Maintaining cross-border trade and cooperation could potentially maintain some financial resources for assisting many high-risk African countries to fight the pandemic, although an overhaul of trade agreements to ensure equitable gains and ecological sustainability is more likely to be a post-pandemic undertaking. In the nearer term, African countries could unite in collectively reducing their tariffs on all medical supplies related to COVID-19 and regulating their domestic prices. Under African Union and/or the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa auspices, member states could enter into cost-sharing agreements to ensure that larger African countries with deeper fiscal pockets (or borrowing capacities) do not outbid smaller, poorer nations. Whether such safeguard measures are entered into new AFCFTA rules, or become part of African-wide demands in new, or amended, agreements with countries beyond the continental borders, is moot but trade agreements and increased trade do not necessarily overcome inequities in wealth and power. Politics and governance in the wake of COVID-19 - where should the focus of Africa leaders lie? The COVID-19 pandemic poses a daunting challenge to African leaders and it is imperative that they work very closely with scientists, policy experts, and medical specialists to design feasible plans. High-level political advocacy combined with multi-sectoral and multi-national globalisation efforts such as the Africa Taskforce for Coronavirus Preparedness and Response (AfTCOR) are vital. An example of this is the US$3 billion Fight COVID-19 Social Bond provided by the African Development Bank to alleviate the social and economic impact of the pandemic on African countries. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a commitment of US$37 million in March 2020, to finance 25 affected or high-priority countries including Angola, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Nigeria this is to help prepare laboratories for large scale testing, investigate and implement contact tracing, train health workers, and implement public health emergency plans, among other policy actions. Short-term fiscal policy redirecting government expenditure to back economic relief to families and businesses will need to be drafted and deployed. Wage subsidies, credit guarantees, and postponed financial obligations like loan repayments will be of immense benefit especially for the vulnerable segments of the population. Although African governments generally lack the same options to create new money (via quantitative easing via government bond purchases by central banks) that high income countries (HICs) have, South Africa being one exception, innovative ways of providing this relief from available limited resources will need to be sought. Economic development plans could be revisited with a view to reallocation of the existing planned budget to tackle COVID-19. This reflects a more sustainable approach as even some high-income countries are beginning to re-impose fiscal austerity, or to broach the idea of soon doing so, to begin reducing the scale of publicly assumed debt. In all this, ensuring transparency and accountability is of paramount importance for securing buy-in from the populace. In Nigeria, for instance, the government failed to provide vital details for a cash transfer program implemented to cushion household expenditure, and this raised questions and doubts about the criteria for selecting beneficiaries many sensed political influences in the decision-making process leading to a crisis of confidence in the leaders. Question 1 "The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) (among 54 of the 55 African Union nations, with only Eritrea so far now yet signing the agreement) which was due to commence in July 2020 may hold some promise in this regard" Explain in this context the Regional Trade Agreements in the process of Globalization Question 2 The passage suggests maintaining cross border trade and collaboration in the face of pandemic. Discuss in this context the "Terms of Access" in a globalized economy