Link: https://allafrica.com/stories/202102220806.html
Similar to most countries, South Africa’s economy has seen the devastating effects of the COVID 19 pandemic. South African officials have recently talked about the reorganization plan for their economy once the pandemic ends. it includes solutions to the large unemployment numbers, and inequality in South Africa. This is a nine month project aiming to reduce the amount of unemployment and inequality through labour markets, industrial policy, welfare, and finance. They call it New Frame, New Economy. They will hold monthly forums lead by experts in specific areas of economic policy. The South African government sees the pandemic as an opportunity to restructure their economy.
For the Sub-Saharan region, hopefully South Africa’s optimism in light of the pandemic starts a chain reaction causing neighboring to do the same. With the amount of poverty and corruption in the continent of Africa, it is most necessary that African countries use their declining economies as opportunities to rebuild, not just fixing poverty and unemployment, but advocating for human rights. Restructuring African countries economies will not only improve unemployment levels, but it could lead them to industrialization and broaden their trading markets to improve their economies even more. Perhaps this restructuring could even present a better option than the traditional fundamentalistic economic approach for African countries.
South Africa’s economic rebuilding could theoretically be a step towards the Universalistic approach. Having one of the best economies in Africa, South Africa may not only be using this reconstruction to better their own nation, but also get their neighbors to follow along. Now we do not yet know the logistics of South Africa’s plan, but it most likely will take notes from some global superpowers, and it may be a stretch to call it the universal approach, but in all honesty that would be the best option for the continent of Africa at this moment. With all of the corruption and division striking this continent, a common economic plan could be a solution to the majority of their problems.