Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa: Towards Sustainable Development 3030881512, 9783030881511

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Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa Towards Sustainable Development Edited by Ogechi Adeola

Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa

Ogechi Adeola Editor

Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa Towards Sustainable Development

Editor Ogechi Adeola Lagos Business School Pan-Atlantic University Lagos, Nigeria

ISBN 978-3-030-88151-1 ISBN 978-3-030-88152-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover credit: Morsa Images This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Preface

Undoubtedly, the Covid-19 pandemic has retrogressed efforts made by countries across the globe to attain the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The pandemic threw people into poverty or put them at risk of losing their livelihood, disrupted the global workforce and informal economy, and generally undermined educational, social, and economic lives. The 17 SDGs (https://sdgs.un.org/goals) include Goal 5, a quest for gender equality and empowerment of women and girls, an admirable effort that has suffered setbacks in the wake of the pandemic. Policies and plans are urgently needed to recover the gains made towards gender equality since the SDGs were articulated in 2015. Women and girls are the most vulnerable during any widespread crisis, given their traditional domestic responsibilities for the care of children and the elderly. Women are often victims of gender-based violence, a symptom of social and economic stresses. The Covid-19 disruption is evidence that most countries were not prepared to protect and guide women and girls in a time of crisis. The effect of a pandemic will never be gender-neutral; policies and plans needed to survive such a crisis should acknowledge their particular risks and appropriate remediations, including access to healthcare. The pandemic has exacerbated the social and economic inequalities experienced by women in Africa, and a policy response towards sustainable development for women is imperative. The book explicates the negative effect of the pandemic on women’s social and economic contributions v

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towards sustainable development, and outlines recovery plans to build a more prosperous, healthy, equitable, and sustainable future for African women and girls. The chapters in this book document the adverse effects Covid-19 has had on efforts to achieve sustainable development, particularly as it relates to African women. Some chapters focus on the adverse effect of the Covid-19 on six SDGs: poverty (goal 1), hunger (goal 2), good health and well-being (goal 3), education (goal 4), gender equality (goal 5), and decent work and economic growth (goal 8), while others address gender-based violence, women empowerment, entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, and information and communication technologies. Tourism is an aspect covered in this book, given its importance as an economic gateway for women in Africa and the existential threat the pandemic poses for the industry. The chapter with contributors from The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is devoted to identifying and recommending plans for pandemic recovery in Africa. The book is offered to policymakers, activists, students, academicians, and specialists in gender research as a means to understand and make informed decisions on gender-related crisis management and sustainable development as detailed in the UN SDGs. The findings and discussions in the book provide tangible, targeted, and actionable recommendations to better prepare Africa’s policymakers and key stakeholders to extricate the continent from the current pandemic and prepare for inevitable future crises. Lagos, Nigeria

Ogechi Adeola

Acknowledgements The editor wishes to acknowledge the contributions of The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to the tourism chapter of the book. She also appreciates the authors of all the chapters of the book for their insights and gendered perspectives on Covid-19 and sustainable development in Africa.

Contents

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Introduction: Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa—Towards Sustainable Development Ogechi Adeola The Covid-19 Pandemic and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: A General Overview Ogechi Adeola Protecting Women and the Girl Child in Sub-Saharan Africa Against Extreme Poverty and Hunger During a Pandemic: Lessons from Covid-19 Yvonne Uchechukwu Carver Gender-Based Violence and Covid-19: The Shadow Pandemic in Africa Comfort O. Oyafunke-Omoniyi, Isaiah Adisa, and Abolaji A. Obileye African Women’s Health and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Implications for Policy and Development Utibe Effiong, Uju E. Okeke, and Fejiro Nwoko

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Covid-19 Pandemic and the Girl Child Education: The Case of Nigeria and South Africa Ebes Aziegbe-Esho, Adebukola E. Oyewunmi, and Grietjie Verhoef

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The Impact of Covid-19 on the African Workforce Through the Lenses of Nurses and Midwives Lydia Aziato, Mary Ani-Amponsah, Merri Iddrisu, and Lillian Akorfa Ohene Women’s Entrepreneurship, Health-Related Crisis, and a Gender-Sensitive Crisis Management Model for Sustainable Development Oyedele Ogundana, Kehinde Akin-Akinyosoye, Deborah Ikhile, and Damilola Omodara The Role of African Entrepreneurship in Promoting Gender Equality and Increasing Resilience and Agility in Uncertain Times Ruth N. Kiraka Gender and Covid-19 Economic Recovery: Towards Policy Recommendations and Directions in Kenya Abel Kinoti Meru and Mary Wanjiru Kinoti Empowering Women During Covid-19 Pandemic: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities for Informality David Olusegun Sotola, Pregala Pillay, and Priscalia Khosa

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Financial Inclusion for Women in the Informal Economy: An SDG Agenda Post Pandemic Nguyen Phong Nguyen and Emmanuel Mogaji

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Fintech, Blockchain, and Women in the Post-COVID Africa Olaniyi Evans and Olusegun Vincent

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Covid-19, Women in Tourism and Sustainable Development: The Nigeria Experience Belinda Nwosu, Elcia Grandcourt, and Lydia Bebe Kum

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ICT for Sustainable Development and Women Empowerment: A Post-pandemic Strategy Benjamin Mwanzia Mulili and Jane Wanjira Njuguna Women Economic Empowerment and Post-pandemic Recovery in Africa: Normalising the “Un-Normal” Outcome of Covid-19 Ogechi Adeola, Paul Agu Igwe, and Olaniyi Evans

Index

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Notes on Contributors

Ogechi Adeola is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria. Her multidimensional research focuses on the advancement of knowledge across the intersection of marketing, tourism, and gender. She has published academic papers in top peer-reviewed journals, and her co-authored articles won Best Paper Awards at international conferences in 2016–2019, consecutively. She is the editor of the book, Empowering African Women for Sustainable Development—Toward Achieving the United Nations’ 2030 Goals, published in 2020 by Palgrave Macmillan. Isaiah Adisa is a management researcher and consultant based in Nigeria. He holds a master’s degree in Industrial Relations & Human Resource Management from the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria. Isaiah has co-edited book(s) on green marketing and green people management. He has co-authored book chapters and journal articles. His research interest cut across human resources management, organisational behaviour, marketing, and gender studies. Kehinde Akin-Akinyosoye is a Post-Doctoral Researcher whose clinical research focuses on the integration of the biopsychosocial model of health, with digital health interventions, to ultimately develop clinical interventions aimed at improving pain relief treatment. She also has research interests in identifying factors that could improve outcomes for individuals outside of clinical environments, specifically in business

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settings. She currently teaches modules on population health and oversees research projects at under-and post-graduate levels. Mary Ani-Amponsah is a Lecturer at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Ghana. She is the Country Representative for the Council of International Neonatal Nurses, a Golden Key Collegiate Scholar, a Queen Elizabeth Scholar, an international Scholar Laureate, and a registered member at the Institute of Qualitative Methodology, Canada. Mary’s exploratory research orientation integrates African perspectives into health care delivery in resource-constrained settings using multi-stakeholder engagement approaches. Lydia Aziato the Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Ghana, holds a Ph.D. in Nursing and a specialisation in oncology. She has more than 20 years of experience in nursing and holds local and international positions in nursing organisations. She has published extensively and reviews for many credible peer-reviewed journals. She is a skilled qualitative researcher. Prof. Aziato has mentored several research students. Her research areas are pain, cancer, and women’s health. Ebes Aziegbe-Esho is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Prior to coming to South Africa, she facilitated courses at Covenant University, Nigeria, one of Africa’s top-ranked universities. Her core research interests are in the areas of human capital, international business, and strategic firm performance, with a focus on the development of Africa’s human capital and African businesses. Ebes holds a doctorate in Management from Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria, and has won awards from the Academy of Management (AOM) and Academy of International Business, Africa chapter (AIB-Africa). Yvonne Uchechukwu Carver is a registered nurse, licensed attorney, and the current Executive Officer at the West African Health Organisation (WAHO). In her position as an Executive Officer based in West Africa, she has worked extensively in social programmes that impact the health and well-being of the population, particularly its vulnerable and marginalised members. Yvonne believes that to improve population health, programmes in developing countries should address the wider issues of health that include socio-economic factors.

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Utibe Effiong is a board-certified Internal Medicine specialist physician and Public Health leader intrigued by health policy, health system administration, drug addiction management, infectious diseases, the influence of the environment on human health, global health, and development. He is an international public speaker and prolific writer on issues of global health importance. Also, as a professor of Medicine, he trains students at Central Michigan University, Michigan State University, and the University of Michigan. Olaniyi Evans is a Nigerian economist and a university Lecturer at PanAtlantic University, Nigeria. He is known in academia for his work on digital economy, financial inclusion, and tourism. He earned his B.Sc. first class, M.Sc. distinctions, and went on to pursue a Ph.D. all in economics from the University of Lagos. He is the author of a substantial number of scholarly articles in top academic journals. He is the editor of BizEcons Quarterly. Elcia Grandcourt joined the World Tourism Organisation, in 2013 as Director of the Regional Department for Africa. Elcia began her tourism career studying Hotel Management at the Singapore Hotel Association and Education Centre (SHATEC), Singapore. She has occupied various positions in operations, reservations, and sales mainly in hotels, including leading international brands such as Le Meridien and Hilton Worldwide Resorts. She worked with the Seychelles national airline and destination management companies before joining the public sector, Seychelles Tourism Board, occupying the position of Chief Executive Officer prior to joining UNWTO. Elcia also holds a Master in Dynamics of Cooperation, Conflicts and Negotiation in International Relations and Diplomacy. Merri Iddrisu is an Assistant Lecturer at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Ghana. Merri holds M.Phil. in nursing and has eighteen years of working experience with the Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Health, as a Nurse Clinician. Merri’s research interest is in Women’s health, Reproductive Cancers, Palliative care, Ethical issues in Nursing care, and Medical and Surgical emergencies. Her passion is qualitative studies. Paul Agu Igwe is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Coordinator for B.A. Business & Enterprise Development at the Lincoln International Business School (LIBS), University of Lincoln, UK. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Business with Management from the University of

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Plymouth. Dr. Igwe is a member of UNESCO Project on Sustainable Foresight. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management and Higher Education Academy. His research interest and expertise include Entrepreneurship, Small Businesses Development, Business Strategy & Internationalisation, Organisational Analysis, Teaching & Learning pedagogy, and Public Policies. Deborah Ikhile (M.A., M.Sc., Ph.D.) is a Research Fellow in Primary Care and Public Health at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. She supports the development and implementation of primary and community research priorities within the National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration for Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. Deborah’s research focuses on a range of topics, including breast cancer, health workforce, mental health, covid-19, antimicrobial resistance and stewardship, digital health, and health inequalities. Priscalia Khosa is a Lecturer and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Social Work, Stellenbosch University. Her fields of research interest include social work supervision and management; social work education; social policy, substance abuse, and gender dynamics. Mary Wanjiru Kinoti is an Associate Professor of Marketing and acting Director, Intellectual Property Management Office, and the Associate Dean, Graduate Studies, School of Business, University of Nairobi. Her research interests are mainstreaming green marketing and customer care in public institutions and among micro, small and medium enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa. Ruth N. Kiraka (Ph.D., Victoria University, Melbourne; M.Sc. Wageningen University, The Netherlands; B.Sc. Egerton University, Kenya) is Associate Professor, Strategy & Entrepreneurship, and Strathmore University, Kenya. Her research interests include youth entrepreneurship, family businesses, and gender and enterprise development in Africa. She has published several books, journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, and research reports. She is a journal reviewer for several journals in business and management. Lydia Bebe Kum is currently serving as an officer at the UN World Tourism Organization, Regional Department for Africa, and has been with the organisation for the last 20 years. She has worked on numerous sustainable tourism development projects in Africa, including women

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empowerment and gender issues, ecotourism and local community development. Before joining UNWTO, she worked in the travel industry and volunteered in development projects on women in Cameroon. She holds a master’s degree in Political Sciences from the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany and a Postgraduate Certificate in Project Management at the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Manchester, UK. Abel Kinoti Meru is an Associate Professor of Business Management, acting Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs and Dean, Riara School of Business, Riara University, Kenya, and first Chair of Academy of International Business Africa—Chapter. His research interests are in social innovation and business incubation, entrepreneurship, and marketing. Emmanuel Mogaji is a Senior Lecturer Advertising and Marketing Communications at the University of Greenwich, London, UK. His research interests are in artificial intelligence, digital marketing, and brand management. Emmanuel has previously worked as a marketing communication executive, responsible for creative designs and managing marketing campaigns, liaising and building relationships with a range of stakeholders. He has published peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and presented his works in many national and international conferences. His publications have appeared in International Journal of Information Management, Journal of Product and Brand Management and Australasian Marketing Journal, and International Journal of Bank Marketing. Benjamin Mwanzia Mulili is a Senior Lecturer at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa’s School of Business based in Nairobi, Kenya. His research interests are in the areas of customer service, green marketing, sports marketing, entrepreneurship, renewal energy, and corporate governance. He holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and a DBA in corporate governance from Southern Cross University, Australia. Nguyen Phong Nguyen is a Lecturer of the School of Accounting at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Nguyen is also a member of Certified Practising Accountants, Australia. His publications have appeared in Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Industrial Marketing Management, European Journal of Marketing, Public Management Review, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Asia Pacific Business Review, and Australasian Marketing Journal.

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Jane Wanjra Njuguna is a Lecturer at Kenyatta University’s, School of Business based in Nairobi Kenya. Her research interests include social marketing, women empowerment and gender, consumer behaviour, relationship marketing, project management, entrepreneurship, marketing for nonprofit organisations, and digital marketing. She holds an MBA in Management from Kenyatta University, Kenya and a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Marketing) from University of Nairobi, Kenya. Fejiro Nwoko is an expert in Healthcare Program Management and an international speaker on health systems strengthening in Africa. She is Head of Operations at Simplified Integrated Medicare, a telemedicine service provider in Nigeria. She has over ten years of global experience in healthcare strategic planning and implementation and healthcare policy development. Dr. Nwoko holds an MBBS degree in Medicine and Surgery with an M.Sc. in Global Health Policy from the University of London, UK. Belinda Nwosu is a Faculty Member of the Organisational Behaviour and HRM department at Lagos Business School. Her research interests are tourism in emerging economies and the human person in business contexts such as gender, leadership, sustainability and governance, work ethic, employee behaviour and service climate. She has several publications, including the first comprehensive study on human capital development in the Nigerian hotel industry. Abolaji A. Obileye is a scholar lecturing at the Department of Criminology, Security, Peace and Conflict Studies, Caleb University, Lagos State, Nigeria. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Sociology at the Tai Solarin University of Education, Nigeria, in 2012 and his master’s degree in Sociology at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, Nigeria, in 2017. He has, therefore, sustained research interests in gender-based violence, insecurity, recidivism, entrepreneurship, and other developmentrelated issues. Oyedele Ogundana is a Senior Lecturer in the Accounting and Finance Department at the Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom. He is an active researcher, and his current research interest includes entrepreneurship, venture growth, SMEs, financial reporting, and standards, amongst other topics. In addition, he is a regular reviewer for several high-ranking journals in the field of Entrepreneurship and Accounting.

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Lillian Akorfa Ohene a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Community Health Nursing Department, University of Ghana, holds a B.Sc., M.Phil., and Ph.D., all in Nursing. She is a Paediatric Nurse and Queen Elizabeth II Scholar. Dr. Ohene is the Faculty Counsellor, STTI Chi Omicron Chapter at the University of Ghana, a Foundation Fellow, and a member of Ghana and West African College of Nurses and Midwives, respectively. Uju E. Okeke is a physician and public health practitioner passionate about improving Maternal and Child Health outcomes through policies and regulations that significantly decrease associated morbidity and mortality. For many years she worked in the Military Hospital, Lagos, with the Obstetrics and Gynecology department before joining Texas A&M University, USA, where she obtained a master’s degree in Public Health. Dr. Okeke volunteers with the Texas A&M School of Public Health Superfund Research Center. Damilola Omodara is Sociologist and Lecturer in Global Public Health at the Queen Mary University of London. She leads both online and onsite Global Public Health programmes. She is currently involved in some research and community projects in the UK. Her research focuses on health inequalities, social and structural determinants of health, health promotion and health systems, community development and engagement, and social and behavioural theories. Comfort O. Oyafunke-Omoniyi is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria. She currently has responsibility as the Coordinator, Postgraduate Programmes in the Department. Oyinlola’s research focuses on Juvenile Delinquency and Criminology in general. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Ibadan, Southwest, Nigeria, in 2014, the same institution where she also bagged her master’s degree. Adebukola E. Oyewunmi is an Assistant Professor of Human Resources Management and Organization Studies, managerial competence coach, and active researcher. Her research interests include organisational behaviour and psychology, Africa–China business relations, and Africa’s indigenous management practices. Dr. Oyewunmi is an alumnus of the University of South Wales, UK, Adebukola holds a master’s and a doctorate in Human Resource Management. She is a trained facilitator of UNESCO’s Global Futures Literacy Network and a member

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of Nottingham University’s (UK) Africa Research Group, an interdisciplinary community of scholars who have an interest in furthering understanding of a range of issues pertaining to Africa. Pregala Pillay holds a Doctor of Administration from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and has published in the field of governance, ethics, leadership, women, and corruption. She is the Co-Chair of the Working Group on Ethics and Culture for the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration. She serves as the Vice Dean: Social Impact and Transformation in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and Professor in the School of Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University. David Olusegun Sotola is a DAAD Ph.D. candidate at Stellenbosch University South Africa. He has over a decade’s experience in public policy research working on diverse policy and governance themes. He has published articles and book chapters on Corruption, public–private partnership, gender, and some other areas of public policy. Grietjie Verhoef is a Professor of Accounting, Economic, and Business History at University of Johannesburg, South Africa. She has published several articles in international journals and edited books. Her core research is in the areas of development of financial institutions, voluntary savings organisations, colonial economic growth, and the development of the insurance industry in Africa. Her latest book is: The power of your life. The Sanlam century of insurance empowerment, 1918–2018; published in 2018 by Oxford University Press. Olusegun Vincent is a senior faculty in the School of Management & Social Sciences at Pan-Atlantic University in Nigeria. He holds a Ph.D. from Brunel University (with specialisation in sustainability, strategy, and governance). His research interests include corporate finance, sustainability, corporate governance, strategy, and taxation. He consults regularly for multinational companies, a board member of reputable companies, and has published in leading management journals.

List of Figures

Fig. 8.1

Fig. 11.1

Fig. 12.1 Fig. 14.1

Gender-related crisis management framework (Source Adopted from Pearson and Mitroff [1993] and modified for this research) Spread of Covid-19 cases across Africa (June 2021) (Source Authors’ with data from Worldometer Covid Dashboard) Conceptual framework illustrating financial inclusion for women in informal economy (Source Authors) Intersection between Covid-19, African women, tourism and sustainable development

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List of Tables

Table 1.1 Table 1.2 Table Table Table Table Table

2.1 7.1 13.1 13.2 14.1

Table 14.2 Table 14.3 Table 14.4 Table 14.5 Table 14.6 Table 16.1

United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals SDG 5: achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls Related literature on Covid-19 and the SDGs Demographic characteristics of study participants Related literature on fintech and women Related literature on blockchain and women Global report on women in tourism: Sustainable development goals (UNWTO, 2019) Work–life balance versus work location Recovery strategies at the individual level Recovery strategies at the level of individual tourism business Recovery strategies at the national level Thematic framework for policy and recovery strategies for women in the tourism sector in Africa Women’s Empowerment Principles

4 5 20 116 240 241 258 266 273 274 275 277 320

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Introduction: Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa—Towards Sustainable Development Ogechi Adeola

Introduction Women and girls are being disproportionately affected by the social & economic consequences of Covid-19 pandemic… (UN Women, 2020)

A novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which caused a pandemic of a highly infectious disease named ‘corona virus disease 2019’ (Covid-19), was first reported in Wuhan city, China in December 2019 and rapidly spread to countries across the globe (Lone & Ahmad, 2020). Considering the growing number of cases, on January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a global health emergency (Evans, 2020; Velavan &

O. Adeola (B) Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_1

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Meyer, 2020) and a global pandemic on March 11, 2020 (Lone & Ahmad, 2020). Covid-19 produces multiple effects on its human hosts, with respiratory tract infections such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) being prominent. Most symptoms are mild, though some patients experience severe symptoms such as pulmonary edema, pneumonia, and organ failure, which may lead to death (Leal Filho et al., 2020). Since the official WHO warning, the number of global cases has risen rapidly. As of June 20, 2021, all world regions have been affected by Covid-19, with over 179 million confirmed cases worldwide and over 3.8 million deaths (Worldometer, 2021). A pandemic has different implications for men and women, and it would be inappropriate to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to managing the effect and recovery process of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid19) crisis. At the peak of the pandemic, the World Health Organization released the May 14, 2020 Advocacy Brief that encouraged governments of member nations to include gender-sensitive policies when dealing with the pandemic’s varied outcomes for women and men (WHO, 2020). Historically, the effects of crises are never gender-neutral, and the Covid-19 pandemic is not an exception. African countries are too often unprepared to shelter and care for their people during crises (Kavanagh et al., 2020). For example, Covid-19 lockdown forced the single mother in Northern Nigeria to stop her little business that brought food to her family’s table. The office cleaner in Northeastern Kenya was suddenly out of a job and with no unemployment benefits or other protection. For countless women in African economies of every size, the loss of income, domestic work burden, and unpaid childcare have increased as a result of the pandemic. While everyone faces unique challenges, women bear the greater burden of the social and economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic (Staab et al., 2020). Poor and marginalised women face even greater risks of Covid-19 transmission and fatalities, increased violence, and loss of livelihood. According to UN Women (2021, para. 6), “Globally, 70 per cent of health workers and first responders are women, and yet, they are not at par with their male counterparts. At 28 per cent, the gender pay gap in the health sector is higher than the overall gender pay gap (16 per cent)”. In support of this finding, the UN Women (2021) report argued that Covid19 could roll back women’s economic gains made in recent decades unless we act immediately and with intent. Therefore, governments and stakeholders must act fast through intervention policies. With a general focus

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on the effect of Covid-19 on women’s social and economic contributions towards sustainable development, the book assesses the need for responses and recovery plans in order to build a more prosperous, healthy, equitable, and sustainable future for African women and girls. The authors of this book acknowledge the impact of the pandemic on women in Africa and offer recommendations for government, policymakers, and stakeholders at all levels to initiate the kind of change that empowers women to be full contributors to their nation’s sustainable development.

Women’s Contributions to Achieving Sustainable Development Sustainable development generally implies development that meets the needs of the present generation in ways that would not compromise the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs (UNESCO, n.d.). As the concept of sustainable development advances, it has shifted focus towards social development, economic development, and environmental protection. The idea reconciles modern economies’ ambitious economic development and their obligations of preserving natural resources and the environment. In 2012, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development meeting at Rio de Janeiro created a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to serve as measures to tackle current and future global challenges. In September 2015, the United Nations met in New York to endorse the SDG 2030 agenda. SDG 2030 is comprised of 17 goals (see Table 1.1) with 162 associated targets set to be achieved by 2030. In response to the failure of past development programmes such as the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) (United Nations, n.d.a), the 17 SDGs aim to address global challenges including poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, climate change, peace, and justice. The 17 SDGs acknowledge that action in one area will influence outcomes in others and that development must balance-economic, social, and environmental sustainability. The UN SDG 5 recognised that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will make a significant contribution to progress across all the 17 SDGs (United Nations, n.d.b). SDG 5’s nine targets included equal access to education, decent work, health care, and political representation for women and girls, all of which engender sustainable economies and benefits for humanity at large (see Table 1.2). The commitment to advance gender equality has

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Table 1.1 United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Goal 1: No poverty End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2: Zero hunger End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture Goal 3: Good health and well-being Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages Goal 4: Quality education Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all Goal 5: Gender equality Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9: Industry, innovation, and infrastructure Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries Reduce inequality within and among countries Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns Goal 13: Climate action Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts Goal 14: Life below water Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development Goal 15: Life on land Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse Goal 16: Peace, justice, and strong institutions Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive Goal 17: Partnership for the goals Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development

Source: UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) (2021)

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Table 1.2 SDG 5: achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls The SDG 5 targets • End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere • Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation • Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation • Recognise and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate • Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life • Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences • Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws • Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women • Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels Source The Global Goals for Sustainable Development (n.d.)

brought progress in some areas, but the promise of full gender equality and removal of economic barriers to women empowerment is still wanting (UN Women, n.d.). Even though SDG 5 is a distinct and separate goal, other SDGs are also achievable if the needs and desires of women receive commensurate attention (Adeola, 2020). Gender equity experts have reiterated that without progress on SDG 5, the other goals cannot be achieved. This rationale linking SDG 5 to the other SDGs is extensively elaborated upon in the 2018 UN Women’s report on gender equality and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development (UN Women, 2018). For instance, access to decent work for women contributes not only to poverty reduction (SDG 1) but also supports achievement of zero hunger (SDG 2), good health and well-being (SDG 3), and quality education (SDG 4). Abolition of all forms of violence against women (Goal 5, target 2) is not only a basic element of SDG 5 but also essential to healthy lives and well-being (SDG 3).

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In contemporary times, women make substantial contributions to African economies and their number increases at a faster pace than men (Kelly et al., 2015; Niethammer, 2013). African women contribute to poverty alleviation and socio-economic development (Boateng, 2018). For example, over 70% of women in sub-Saharan Africa are engaged in the informal economic sector, and their capacity for economic contribution is identified as a factor for growth (Adom, 2015; Fapounda, 2012). Women’s significant participation and contribution to the African informal economy cuts across agriculture and food processing sectors as well as domestic work and childcare. In recognition, many African countries have invested in women’s entrepreneurship as an avenue to women’s economic empowerment. For example, the African Development Bank has initiated several interventions to support the growth of women’s enterprises. Likewise, various donor agencies and development actors (e.g., the International Finance Corporation, the UK Department for International Development) have promoted entrepreneurship for women in Africa (see Chapter 9). There are high levels of female enterprises in Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, but the majority are driven by a need for survival (Katongole et al., 2014; Kelly et al., 2015). Though women launch new businesses at a rapid rate, sustaining those businesses is often a challenge. The majority of women run microenterprises without employees in the informal sector, and hence, make less revenue than men (Kelly et al., 2015). There is a gender gap in entrepreneurship in terms of motivation, industry choice, and business performance (Campos et al., 2015). Women are under-represented in corporate ownership and management, finance, high-tech, construction, and manufacturing sectors, but are predominant in a consumer sector that deals in cheap goods and services or farming, endeavours which require little to zero start-up capital (Said-Allsopp & Tallontire, 2014). Despite the recognition of women’s contributions to Africa’s economic development, they remain in the informal sector and run survivalist enterprises (Kelly et al., 2015; UNIDO, 2014).

The Effect of Covid-19 on Sustainable Development In the wake of the unprecedented social and economic crisis triggered by the global Covid-19 pandemic, it is clear that women and men are being

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affected unequally – by spiraling rates of domestic abuse, double or triple shifts of unpaid care and domestic work, as well as job losses, declining income, increasing poverty, and vulnerability for the 740 million women who work in informal jobs lack basic social protection. (Staab et al., 2020)

A few months after the World Health Organization’s January 30, 2020 declaration of the Covid-19 global emergency, the world began dealing with a systemic crisis in human development, unprecedented in its evolution from health shock to a social and economic crisis. The pandemic continues to present a huge challenge to all countries’ attempts at sustainable development and the achievement of the SDGs (Lucero-Prisno et al., 2020). While it is true that the SDGs themselves lack a dedicated pandemic response strategy, there is a clear need to integrate the SDGs with crisis management at the local and national levels (Heggen et al., 2020). Selected examples support this important relationship: SDG 2: Zero Hunger: Import restrictions on staple foods such as rice and wheat worsened food insecurity in Africa with a sharp increase in food prices and mounting hunger and malnutrition (Odey et al., 2021). SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing: Because routine vaccination and surveillance of preventable diseases in Africa lost momentum as healthcare resources were redirected to address the pandemic priorities, Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan experienced an outbreak of previously controlled diseases such as measles and malaria (Odey et al., 2021). SDG 5: Gender Equality: According to the 2020 UNFPA report, there has been a sudden upsurge of sexual and gender violence, protests and crimes during the pandemic, stigmatisation, and xenophobia against positive Covid-19 patients, foreigners, and migrants (UNFPA, 2021). SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth: Lockdowns and travel restrictions devastated the tourism sector (about 20% of the GDP of some countries). International trade and domestic consumption revenues, a staple of most African countries, declined significantly. Odey et al. (2021) reported that 85.8% of the informal sector workforce lost their jobs due to lockdown and a drop in the standard of living. Domestic resources in form of tax and non-tax revenues were exhausted. Notwithstanding the recovery measures, the consequences of the pandemic are seen in the negative growth of most sectors, particularly in the progress of the SDGs, with an increase in the number of people being pushed into penury and malnourishment (Odey et al., 2021). Due

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to the sheer complexity of the pandemic within all sectors, Africa’s authorities are overwhelmed. In many circles, the consensus is that, with the advent of Covid-19, Africa´s current and long-term strategic developmental agendas, including effective implementation of the SDGs, are at risk of being unachievable by 2030.

The Effect of Covid-19 on the Social and Economic Contributions of Women The Covid-19 pandemic has spurred sundry economic and social challenges. The Sachs et al. (2020) report on the SDGs and Covid-19 shows that gender equality—SDG 5—is negatively impacted by the pandemic, with women experiencing job losses, poverty, and domestic violence (Sachs et al., 2020). These consequences could reverse the little progress that has been made towards gender equality and women’s rights over the decades. The rationale is not far-fetched: The pandemic outbreak worsened existing inequalities for women and girls across every sphere, from health and education to security and social protection. African women have faced many barriers to accessing support from finance lenders, largely due to low literacy and numeracy, family responsibilities, social attitudes, or lack of documentation (Sioson & Kim, 2019). While some of those barriers may also exist for men, they are more significant for women, especially during the Covid-19 crisis (Sahay et al., 2020). Women play an important role in the Covid-19 response, including frontline health workers and home care providers. At the onset of the pandemic, the demand for unpaid care work increased appreciably due to school closures and the intensified needs of older people. The crisis positioned women at a higher risk of falling into poverty as they participate in the informal economy which is characterised by insecure labour markets. The absence of preventive resources and vaccines also placed them at greater personal risk of falling prey to the virus. The pandemic has also fuelled a precipitous increase in violence against women. The mandated lockdown measures trapped many women in homes with their abusers and restricted access to legal or social remedies (UN Women, June 2020). Also, women-owned businesses are disproportionately informal and in less profitable sectors, they lack the resources to cope with shocks such as Covid-19 (Staab, Tabbush & Turquet, 2020). Already, women-led businesses in Africa battle with various obstacles in the form of limited access to finance, social and legal constraints, and

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skills gaps (Kimbu et al., 2019). Across the world, women are far more socioeconomically disadvantaged than men. For women entrepreneurs in Africa, the aftereffects of Covid-19 are felt more deeply and more likely to extend far longer than for their male counterparts (The African Report, 2020). African women’s obstacles to entrepreneurial choices have been further exacerbated by the pandemic. Unlike men, women often lack access to large social networks needed to establish valuable business relationships. Likewise, women generally control fewer assets than men (Ebo & Kerubo, 2020). A further detriment to women entrepreneurs’ efforts to sustain their businesses is the expectation of compliance with social norms that require African women to manage the household responsibilities, all of which have been compounded by Covid-19. Since women represent half of the continents’ entrepreneurs and dominate the informal sector, the consolidation of their capacity is a substantial economic contribution that can lead to growth. To spur women’s contribution to sustainable development, the constraints that feed the gaps in performance must be addressed. Public policy will be best positioned when it addresses these constraints faced by women survivalists (i.e., the poorest, most excluded, and most marginalised women). The three major interventions for women entrepreneurs are financial services (including microcredit), business development, and technical assistance, which could be targeted at survival entrepreneurs (Gravesteijn, 2012; Patel, 2014). Added interventions should target barriers confronted by women in their communities and in their homes. Since the effects of the pandemic and the consequent lockdowns are not gender-neutral, and considering that women are more vulnerable to economic shocks from the crisis, governments, financiers, and other stakeholders may need to apply a gendered approach to the design of Covid-19 responses as a strategy to foster women empowerment. Protecting women-led businesses from the effects of the pandemic would require provisions of much-needed liquidity to women who already have reduced access to loans compared to men. Since agriculture is a vocation in Africa and women are about 40% of the farmers in the continent who typically experience lower farm yields than men, the provision of productive inputs to women farmers could improve their economic outcomes and alleviate the effects of the pandemic. Likewise, technical assistance facilities providing women-led businesses with advisory services

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would foster informed decisions, enabling them to survive the pandemic as well as foster post-crisis business growth.

The Focus and Structure of This Book This introductory chapter, has set the tone for understanding the pandemic’s immediate and long-term challenges for African women and girls. In Chapter 2, Ogechi Adeola offers an analysis of how the pandemic altered pursuit of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The chapter argues that though Africa’s deteriorating economic conditions have had a negative effect on development, some positive developments are obtainable in the long term if appropriate policies and plans are put in place. In Chapter 3 Yvonne Uchechukwu Carver considers how women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa can be protected against extreme poverty and hunger during a pandemic in response to reports that have shown that African countries are too often unprepared to shelter and care for their people during crises. In Chapter 4, Oyafunke-Omoniyi Comfort, Isaiah Adisa, and Abolaji Adewale Obileye discuss the gender-based violence fuelled by the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. They recommend policies and interventions that can protect women from violence, sexual abuse, and rape during this pandemic and future emergencies. Utibe Effiong, Uju Okeke, and Fejiro Nwoko, in Chapter 5, discuss healthcare for African women. The pandemic has overwhelmed healthcare systems across the world, particularly those in developing countries. The authors document the health challenges to which women were exposed during the pandemic and recommend strategies for ways to protect women during such crises. In Chapter 6, Ebes Aziegbe-Esho, Adebukola E. Oyewunmi, and Grietjie Verhoef consider the pandemic’s effect on the education of girls by analysing the situation in Nigeria and South Africa. Education has been one of the hardest-hit sectors during the pandemic, with unquantifiable effects on children in the future. The chapter offers strategies on how the educational sector can not only recover, but continue to pursue the goals of SDG 4, which is focused on quality education for all. In Chapter 7, Lydia Aziato, Merri Iddrisu, Mary Ani-Amponsah, and Lilian Akorfa Ohene consider the physical, psychological, and socio-economic impacts of Covid-19 on the African workforce as experienced by nurses and midwives. The authors emphasise that these

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frontline workers need adequate attention to their mental, physical, and emotional needs, targets of SDG 3. Covid-19 recovery and sustainable development were analysed in Chapter 8 by Oyedele Ogundana, Kehinde Akin-Akinyosoye, Deborah Ikhile, and Damilola Omodara, who assess women’s entrepreneurship by developing a gender-sensitive crisis management model aimed at achieving multiple SDGs, but especially SDG 1 and SDG 8. In Chapter 9, Ruth N. Kiraka provides an exhaustive discussion on the role of African entrepreneurship in promoting gender equality and increasing resilience and agility in uncertain times. The authors evaluate the role of entrepreneurship as African women navigate the inherent gender disparity made more egregious by the pandemic. Achievement of numerous SDGs that target gender inequalities is found in their recommendations. Abel Kinoti Meru and Mary Wanjiru Kinoti, in Chapter 10, examine gender and Covid-19 economic recovery, targets of SDG 8, focusing on policy recommendations and directions in Kenya. They call for a rigorous approach to gathering statistics that will gauge gender imbalances and support development of elaborate socio-economic approaches to address inequalities. Chapters 11–15 provide insights into the status of sustainable development in Africa as the continent recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic. David Olusegun Sotola, Pregala Pillay, and Priscalia, in Chapter 11, examine issues related to the impact of the pandemic on the empowerment of women. Nguyen Phong Nguyen and Emmanuel Mogaji, in Chapter 12, explore evidence of financial inclusion and contributions of women in the informal economy, and offer policy recommendations for achieving financial inclusion targeted by the post-pandemic SDG agenda. In Chapter 13, Olaniyi Evans and Olusegun Vincent explore the phenomenal power of digital financial technology and its potential for the empowerment of women in the post-pandemic era. Authors, Belinda Nwosu, Elcia Grandcourt, and Lydia Bebe Kum, in Chapter 14, assess the nexus between the pandemic and sustainable development, offering recommendations and insights for decision-making by African women and stakeholders involved in the tourism sector. In Chapter 15, Benjamin Mulili and Jane Wanjira Njuguna discuss how leveraging ICT resources can contribute to post-pandemic recovery of sustainable development gains and the empowerment of African women.

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In Chapter 16, Ogechi Adeola, Paul Agu Igwe, and Olaniyi Evans explore the role of women in Africa entrepreneurship development and the implications for gender equality, pandemic mitigation and recovery. The authors argue that equipping women with entrepreneurial skills and knowledge should become a strategic path by which African governments in African nations can prepare women for pandemics or other crisis situations. The authors offer recommendations for pandemic recovery, sustainable development, and the pursuit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals through economic empowerment of African women. Overall, the book’s authors provide salient discussion on the provision of attainable policies towards pandemic recovery in Africa. The chapters propose ways to protect the most vulnerable during a pandemic and, in the process, empower them to achieve the UN SDGs.

The Need for Targeted Responses and Recovery Plans According to a recent study, the Asia–Pacific countries, which rank the highest in SDG indicators, also rank the highest in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic (Sachs et al., 2020). It can thus be inferred that a focus on the SDGs would be advantageous for African countries in the present and in preparation for future pandemics or crisis. Besides managing the pandemic, African countries must stay the course on the SDG agenda for the benefit of their people. As increased momentum is geared towards the SDGs’ achievement while this decade of action focuses on the mitigation of the pandemic storms, so also is the future of the African continent. The immediate implication is that if no one is to be left behind, as pledged by the SDGs, there is a necessity for the creative, futuristic reflection that evolved in the midst of the pandemic to translate into innovations in policy design and implementation. This hope for the future comes with a certain caveat. Historically, policy interventions do not sufficiently address gender equality and women’s rights protection in Africa (Ampaire et al., 2020). Therefore, the contributing authors challenge readers of this book to advocate for concerted efforts geared Africa-wide to ensure the gains of the SDGs for the continent are not lost due to the pandemic and that the continent stays the course of developmental progress. The Covid-19 pandemic presents an opportunity for radical, positive actions to address long-standing inequalities in many areas of women’s

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lives and foster a more equitable and just Africa. Empowering women and girls requires the joint efforts of stakeholders who have baseline responsibilities to support the empowerment of women and girls via social investment, partnerships, and public policy engagement. Leaders in Africa should develop and adopt policies and practices that will implement initiatives that advance women’s empowerment within their domain. In a nutshell, the advent of Covid-19 provides a tremendous opportunity for African leaders to realign their SDG priorities systematically and strategically, scaling up necessary actions which foster the development and livelihoods of women and girls. Finally, African countries must ensure adequate representation of women in all decision making on Covid19 response and recovery for a more gendered approach and targeted outcome.

References Adeola. O. (2020). Introduction: Empowering African women—Towards achieving the UN’s 2030 sustainable development goals. In O. Adeola (Ed.), Empowering African women for sustainable development. Palgrave Macmillan. Adom, K. (2015). Recognizing the contribution of female entrepreneurs in economic development in sub-Saharan Africa: Some evidence from Ghana. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 20(01), 1–24. https://doi.org/ 10.1142/S108494671550003X Ampaire, E. L., Acosta, M., Huyer, S., Kigonya, R., Muchunguzi, P., Muna, R., & Jassogne, L. (2020). Gender in climate change, agriculture, and natural resource policies: Insights from East Africa. Climatic Change, 158(1), 43–60. Boateng, A. (2018). Contextualising women’s entrepreneurship in Africa. In A. Boateng (Ed.), African Female Entrepreneurship (pp. 3–33). Palgrave Macmillan. Campos, F., Goldstein, M. P., & McKenzie, D. (2015). Short-term impacts of formalization assistance and a bank information session on business registration and access to finance in Malawi (World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, 7183). http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23653 Daly, H. E. (2013). Sustainable development: Definitions, principles, policies. Mekhanizm Rehuluvannya Economiky, 3, 9–20. Ebo, N. G., & Kerubo, A. (2020, June 26). Supporting women-led businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa during COVID-19: Strategies to survive and thrive. NextBillion. https://nextbillion.net/supporting-women-led-businesses-in-afr ica/ Evans, O. (2020). Socio-economic impacts of novel coronavirus: The policy solutions. BizEcons Quarterly, 7 , 3–12.

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Fapohunda, T. M. (2012). Women and the informal sector in Nigeria: Implications for development. British Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 4(1), 35–45. Fapohunda, T. M. (2012). Women and the informal sector in Nigeria: Implications for development. British Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 4(1), 35–45. Gravesteijn, R. (2012). Microfinance and women entrepreneurship: An impact assessment of a start-up loan programme, IMON International, Tajikistan. International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/empent/areas/soc ial-finance/WCMS_499376/lang--en/index.htm Heggen, K., Sandset, T. J., & Engebretsen, E. (2020). COVID-19 and sustainable development goals. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 98(10), 646. Katongole, C., Ahebwa, W. M., & Kawere, R. (2014). Enterprise success and entrepreneur’s personality traits: An analysis of micro- and small-scale womenowned enterprises in Uganda’s tourism industry. Tourism and Hospitality Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/1467358414524979 Kavanagh, M. M., Erondu, N. A., Tomori, O., Dzau, V. J., Okiro, E. A., Maleche, A., Aniebo, I. C., Rugege, U., Holmes, C. B., & Gostin, L. O. (2020). Access to lifesaving medical resources for African countries: COVID19 testing and response, ethics, and politics. The Lancet , 395(10238), 1735–1738. Kelly, D., Brush, C., Green, P., Herrington, M., & Penny, A. (2015). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) women’s report 2015. Kimbu, A. N., Ewoenam, A. A., & Adam, I. (2019, October 24). Women find it hard to sustain tourism businesses in Ghana and Nigeria: Here’s why. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/women-find-it-hard-tosustain-tourism-businesses-in-ghana-and-nigeria-heres-why-123805 Leal Filho, W., Brandli, L. L., Lange Salvia, A., Rayman-Bacchus, L., & Platje, J. (2020). COVID-19 and the UN sustainable development goals: Threat to solidarity or an opportunity?. Sustainability, 12(13), 5343. Lone, S. A., & Ahmad, A. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic–an African perspective. Emerging Microbes & Infections, 9(1), 1300–1308. Lucero-Prisno, D. E., Adebisi, Y. A., & Lin, X. (2020). Current efforts and challenges facing responses to 2019-nCoV in Africa. Global Health Research and Policy, 5(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-020-00148-1 Niethammer, C. (2013) Women, entrepreneurship and the opportunity to promote development and business. Brookings Blum Roundtable. Odey, G. O., Alawad, A. G. A., Atieno, O. S., Carew-Bayoh, E. O., Fatuma, E., Ogunkola, I. O., & Lucero-Prisno III, D. E. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic: Impacts on the achievements of Sustainable Development Goals in Africa. Pan

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African Medical Journal, 38(251). https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2021. 38.251.27065 Patel, P. (2014). Effectiveness of entrepreneurship development interventions on women entrepreneurs. International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo. org/empent/areas/womens-entrepreneurship-development-wed/WCMS_3 29356/lang--en/index.htm Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kroll, C., Lafortune, G., & Fuller, G. (2020). Sustainable development report 2020: The sustainable development goals and Covid-19: Includes the SDG index and dashboards. Cambridge University Press. Sahay, M. R., von Allmen, M. U. E., Lahreche, M. A., Khera, P., Ogawa, M. S., Bazarbash, M., & Beaton, M. K. (2020). The promise of fintech: Financial inclusion in the post COVID-19 era. International Monetary Fund. Said-Allsopp, M., & Tallontire, A. (2014). Enhancing fairtrade for women workers on plantations: Insights from Kenyan agriculture. Food Chain, 4(1), 66–77. Staab, S., Tabbush, C., & Turquet, L. (2020). Global gender response tracker assesses COVID-19 measures for women. https://data.unwomen.org/features/ global-gender-response-tracker-assesses-COVID-19-measures-women Sioson, E. P., & Kim, C. J. (2019). Closing the gender gap in financial inclusion through Fintech (ADBI Policy Brief No: 2019-3). https://www.adb.org/pub lications/closing-gender-gap-financial-inclusionthrough-fintech The African Report. (2020). Coronavirus: Ensure women’s equality, ensure strong economies. https://www.theafricareport.com/30108/coronavirus-ens ure-womens-equality-ensure-strong-economies/ The Global Goals. (n.d.). Goal 5: Gender equality. https://www.globalgoals.org/ 5-gender-equality. UN. Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development: Sustainable development knowledge platform [ONLINE]. https://sustainabledevelopment. un.org/post2015/transformingourworld. Accessed June 4, 2021. UN Women. (2018). Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. ISBN 978-1-63214-108-8. OCLC 1096436801. UN Women. (2021). COVID-19 and its economic toll on women: The story behind the numbers. UN Women—Headquarters [ONLINE]. https://www. unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/9/feature-covid-19-economic-imp acts-on-women. Accessed June 4, 2021. UN Women. (n.d.). In focus: Women and the sustainable development goals (SDGs): SDG 5: Gender equality. UN Women—Headquarters [ONLINE]. https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/womenand-the-sdgs/sdg-5-gender-equality. [Accessed June 04 2021].

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UN Women. (2020, June). COVID-19 and gender monitor. https://data.unw omen.org/resources/COVID-19-and-gender-monitor UNDP (United Nationals Development Programme). (2021). The SDGs in action. https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals UNESCO. (n.d.). Sustainable development. https://en.unesco.org/themes/edu cation-sustainable-development/what-is-esd/sd UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund). (2021). UNFPA annual report 2020. https://www.unfpa.org/ UNSDG. (2020). Policy brief: Impact of COVID-19 in Africa [ONLINE]. https://unsdg.un.org/resources/policy-brief-impact-covid-19-africa. Accessed June 5, 2021. UNIDO. (2014). Empowering women: Fostering entrepreneurship. United Nations Industrial Development Organization. United Nations. (n.d.a). Millennium development goals and beyond 2015. https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ United Nations. (n.d.b). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda Velavan, T. P., & Meyer, C. G. (2020). The COVID-19 epidemic. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 25(3), 278. Worldometer. (2021). COVID live update: 179,062,766 cases and 3,877,643 deaths from the Coronavirus. Worldometer [ONLINE]. https://www.worldo meters.info/coronavirus/?utm_campaign=homeAdvegas1?. Accessed June 20, 2021. WHO (World Health Organization). (2020). Gender and Covid-19. Advocacy brief . https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/332080/WHO2019-nCoV-Advocacy_brief-Gender-2020.1-eng.pdf?ua=1

CHAPTER 2

The Covid-19 Pandemic and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: A General Overview Ogechi Adeola

Introduction The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030 (UNDP, n.d.). The agenda identifies 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets to be achieved by 2030. The SDGs officially came into force on January 1, 2016. Improving on the erstwhile Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the new goals represent an unprecedented opportunity to set the world on a sustainable course while ensuring a life of dignity for all. The SDGs uphold universal respect for human rights and human dignity and, at the same time, provide a

O. Adeola (B) Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_2

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policy framework for regulatory actions at regional, national, and international levels. The 17 SDGs are integrated, meaning that action in one area affects outcomes in others and that development must create a balance between economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Aimed at fast-tracking progress first for those in greatest need of development, the SDGs are intended to bring the world to a number of life-changing “zeros”, including zero poverty, zero hunger, zero AIDS, and zero discrimination against women and girls. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), caused by a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first detected in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan, China (Fauci et al., 2020). The outbreak has since spread all over the world, with more than 178,207,832 confirmed cases as well as 385,807 confirmed deaths at the time this chapter was written (Worldometer, 2021). Covid-19 presents a range of respiratory illnesses from asymptomatic or mild to severe disease and death. The negative economic and social challenges inflicted by the disease have been felt by developed countries as well as developing nations, including those in Africa, most of which lack the resources to cope with the ramifications (Evans, 2020). Sumner et al. (2020) estimated that the Covid-19 economic shutdown would drive 420–580 million people into poverty, raising the level of global poverty for the first time since 1990. It is noteworthy that this poverty prevalence in developing countries could be contributing to higher rates of social ills such as infections, loss of livelihood, inequality, and conflicts, further adverse effects on the implementation of the SDGs. Therefore, this chapter explores how the pandemic may affect the achievement of the SDGs, especially those most directly affected by Covid-19. The SDGs considered in this chapter include SDG 1 (End poverty in all its forms everywhere), SDG 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture), SDG 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages), SDG 4 (Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all), SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls), SDG 8 (Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all), SDG 10 (Reduce inequality within and among countries), and SDG 17 (strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development). SDGs 6, 7,

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14, 15, and 16 are not largely affected by Covid-19; and are not considered in this study. Hence, the key areas of focus are the four pillars of the SDGs: people (SDGs 1–5), prosperity (SDGs 8–10), planet (SDGs 11– 13), and partnerships (SDG 17) (International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2012).

Assessment of the Covid-19 and SDG Literature Covid-19 is not the first pandemic, and very likely not the last to hit the world (Gollakner & Capua, 2020). The previous century experienced three major pandemics: The first, Spanish flu caused by influenza A (H1N1), killed about 50 million people and caused about a 16% decline in the global gross domestic product (Knobler et al., 2005). The second was the Asian and Hong Kong influenza (in 1957 and 1968), which were milder but killed nearly one million people (Al Hajjar & McIntosh, 2010; Athukorala & Athukorala, 2020; Khetrapal & Bhatia, 2020). The third, a novel influenza virus, dramatically appeared in Mexico in March 2009 in the shape of an H1N1 subtype, sweeping the whole world and killing 18,449 people in 214 countries (Pan & Zhang, 2020). In the last two decades, the world has battled severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), avian flu (Influenza H5N1), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and influenza (H1N1) (Bhatia & Abraham, 2020; Peeri et al., 2020). A stream of studies in the literature has reiterated that the lessons learnt from these previous pandemics should help deal with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis (e.g., Evans, 2020; Pan & Zhang, 2020). Being a significant shock to countries worldwide, the Covid-19 pandemic triggered an urgent call for action in various disciplines. A large number of Covid-19-related studies were published even before the March 2020 announcement of the pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) (e.g., Fauci et al., 2020). To understand the developments in the literature and put this chapter in context, studies conducted on SDGs through the lens of Covid-19 are explored, particularly the articles published in peer-reviewed journals in 2020 and 2021. The 8 articles in Table 2.1 are considered the most relevant articles on Covid-19 and SDGs as of May 2021. Critical discussions on the Covid-19 and SDGs focus on uncertainty swirls of the global economy indicating a decline (e.g., Gonzalez-Perez et al., 2021; Ibn-Mohammed et al., 2020; Mukarram, 2020), harm to the global health system (e.g., Liu et al., 2020; Shamasunder et al., 2020),

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Table 2.1 Related literature on Covid-19 and the SDGs Study

Context

Findings

Comments/suggestions for future researc

Leal Filho et al. (2020)

Covid-19 and the UN sustainable development goals: threat to solidarity or an opportunity

Due to its broad scope and area of influence, Covid-19 may hinder the implementation process of the SDGs. It is a cautious warning of the need to put an emphasis on the speedy implementation of the SDGs, such that the progress made thus far is not endangered

Gulseven et al. (2020)

How the Covid-19 pandemic will affect the UN sustainable development goals

Hörisch (2021)

The relation of Covid-19 to the UN sustainable development goals: implications for sustainability accounting, management and policy research

Significant concerns in dealing with Covid-19 disrupt other diseases’ (e.g., malaria and yellow fever, among others) prevention programmes. Consequently, problems such as mental health are likely to be overlooked, recognising the fact that social distancing may cause an increase in the percentage of victims The deteriorating economic conditions as a result of the Covid-19 will have negative impacts on most aspects of development. However, there might be some positive developments in the long run The Covid-19 crisis severely threatens the achievement of the SDGs

Successful implementation of SDGs might have prevented the Covid-19 pandemic since SDG 15 calls for abolition of wildlife trade

Future research could examine setting up more general criteria for incorporating newly emerging crisis to the SDGs

(continued)

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Table 2.1 (continued) Study

Context

Findings

Comments/suggestions for future researc

Naidoo and Fisher (2020)

Reset sustainable development goals for a pandemic world

Covid-19 exposes the fragility of the SDGs—two-thirds of the SDGs are unlikely to be met due to the Covid-19 crisis

Mejia et al. (2020)

Global Covid-19 efforts as the platform for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Fenner and Cernev (2021)

The implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for delivering the Sustainable Development Goals Covid-19: Ramifications for progress towards the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Nigeria

The poor have increased risk for both Covid-19 and tropical diseases; these combinations have disproportionate impacts on the working poor, health-wise and economically. There is potential for a slow, or even a reversal of all the gains since the launch of the MDGs Considering the new circumstances emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, planetary and human health demand key focus

The UN should work out how and when to revise the SDGs. Goals and targets should be evaluated based on three points: (i) Is this a priority, post-Covid-19? (ii) Is it about development, not growth? and (iii) Is the pathway to it resilient to global disruptions? Considering the anticipated support for Covid-19 vaccinations around the globe, it would be wise to explore how some of the failed interventions could be resuscitated and bundled

Ogisi and Begho (2021)

Approximately 81% saw Covid-19 as a significant danger to their income. 75% reported a decline in their income due to Covid-19. Covid-19 posed a significant threat to the achievement of SDGs 1, 2, 3 and 8

Opportunities exist to restrategise on the delivery of SDGs but may be hindered by the contending interests of new geopolitics In the long run, mitigating the impact of Covid-19 would require targeted social protection programmes to ensure that countries are on track to attain the SDGs. It is true that Covid-19 will be defeated, but recovery plans and actions will decide the effect it leaves behind

(continued)

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Table 2.1 (continued) Study

Context

Findings

Comments/suggestions for future researc

Zhan and Santos-Paulino (2021)

Investing in the Sustainable Development Goals: Mobilisation, channelling, and impact

The Covid-19 crisis significantly exacerbates SDGs financing gaps in developing countries and runs the risk of undoing the progress made in SDGs investment since its launch in 2015

With just 10 years left to realise the sustainable development agenda, the current stagnation in private flows to developing countries (as further influenced by the pandemic) poses a daunting task. Policymakers face tremendous challenges and regulatory quandaries in mobilising and channelling investments into sustainable development

Source Author’s compilation

and adverse impact on the SDGs achievement momentum (Ogisi & Begho, 2021; Zhan & Santos-Paulino, 2021). It has been argued that Covid-19 will erase some of the commendable achievements so far regarding SDGs (Hörisch, 2021; Mejia et al., 2020; Mukarram, 2020; Ogisi & Begho, 2021), and that it has exposed the fragility of the SDGs (Iwuoha & Jude-Iwuoha, 2020; Naidoo & Fisher, 2020). Due to its broad scope and influence, Covid-19 may disrupt the implementation process of the SDGs (Hörisch, 2021; Leal Filho et al., 2020). The deteriorating economic conditions resulting from the Covid19 will have negative impacts on most aspects of development (Gulseven et al., 2020; Hörisch, 2021; Stephens et al., 2020). The literature posits that the additional pressure of Covid-19 on financing remains a prime concern for the implementation of SDGs (Mukarram, 2020). According to Mukarram (2020 p. 256), “Undoubtedly, Covid-19 would create additional pressure and add to the existing financing gap as the countries would face a financial crunch in the post-COVID period”. The Covid-19 crisis significantly exacerbates SDG

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financing gaps in developing countries (Zhan & Santos-Paulino, 2021). Therefore, a stream of studies encourages tapping into the vast potentials of different investment sources for financing the SDGs (Zhan & Santos-Paulino, 2021). A parallel debate is on how to heal the world economy already “infected” by Covid-19 (Ekwebelem et al., 2020; Mukarram, 2020). The Covid-19 shock has worsened existing constraints for the SDGs; it may undo the progress made through investment in the SDGs (Zhan & Santos-Paulino, 2021). According to Benedek et al. (2021), “The pandemic has put the SDGs firmly out of reach by their 2030 target date in most countries” (p. 7). A renewed commitment to proSDG policies will be crucial to avoid permanent setbacks to the SDGs agenda (Benedek et al., 2021).

People (SDGs 1–5) Beyond health implications, the pandemic has created one of the worst human and economic crises in contemporary times (United Nations Economic and Social Council, 2020). Sumner et al. (2020) estimated the potential short-term economic impact of Covid-19 on global poverty through contractions in per capita household income/consumption. Their estimates showed that Covid-19 is a challenge to achieving SDG 1 by 2030 because global poverty could escalate for the first time since 1990 and such escalation could represent a setback of approximately a decade of the world’s progress in poverty reduction. Millions of people have lost their jobs and sources of livelihood (International Labour Organization, 2020). An estimated 150 million people will be put in extreme poverty by 2021; with 80% expected to be in middle-income countries (The World Bank, 2020). While, in some cases, the economic impact has been alleviated through emergency social protection measures by governments worldwide, many nations have received grossly inadequate or no support. The malevolent impact of the coronavirus disease is not limited to the constraints to SDG 1 (End poverty in all its forms everywhere) and SDG 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture). Past pandemics have shown significant deleterious psychological disturbances, exacerbated by entrenched socioeconomic inequalities and future uncertainties (Knobler et al., 2005). In some parts of Africa, the challenge is magnified. Millions of people around

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the African continent have minimal levels of income security, unemployment insurance, and savings, with their already tenuous living conditions further worsened by the pandemic (OECD, 2020). As with previous pandemics, the initial effects of Covid-19 have been felt on health, thus posing a threat to SDG 3 (Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages). Due to the spread of the virus, hospitals and other medical facilities across many countries are overcrowded. To compound matters, people abstain from medical care for fear of getting infected in medical facilities and by medical personnel (Leal Filho et al., 2020). The inadequacy of equipment and infrastructure in Africa’s weak health systems implies that the quantum of mortality may be considerable. Though Covid-19 became the highest priority of the health sector in 2020, other pre-existing diseases such as malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, yellow fever, and others persisted. Hence, there is a growing concern that the seriousness of the pandemic has disrupted focus on other diseaseprevention programmes (Shipp, 2020). Considering the inadequacy of funding, weakened infrastructure, and qualified personnel, the healthcare systems in most African countries are ill-equipped to manage the coronavirus disease, let alone deal with the array of other public health problems. Victims of other health problems such as mental illness, obesity, and substance abuse are likely to be ignored; lockdowns, isolation, and social distancing will only increase their number. Progress in achieving SDG 4—ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all—has suffered as a result of the pandemic. In the early months of the pandemic, almost all countries implemented school closures. In response, educational institutions attempted to maintain their calendar and programmes via online learning. However, students in many African locations have limited or no access to the internet, personal computers or tablets, or a supportive e-learning environment. The pandemic disrupted education in many spheres, creating increased pressure on schools and an escalation in dropout rates (Brandli Filho et al., 2020). SDG 5 is aimed at achieving gender equality and empowerment for all women and girls. Although women are making important contributions as frontline leaders and key personnel during the Covid-19 pandemic, they are at greater risk of suffering from damage to their economic, health, and social conditions (OECD, 2020). Gender inequalities will accelerate with the impoverishment of nations experiencing the realities

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of the pandemic. Some deleterious outcomes will be greater burdens of unpaid work for women and an increase in domestic violence. Domestic violence is attributable to heightened tensions in the household, marginalisation from leadership roles, a decline in economic empowerment, and limited or no access to sexual and reproductive healthcare (Myamba, 2020). The Covid-19 pandemic is considered a significant threat to women’s empowerment and it stifles the progress towards gender equality achieved so far (United Nations, 2020). The various economic and social challenges wrought by the disease place a greater burden on women who already lack the resources to cope with the consequences. Generally, women are far more socioeconomically disadvantaged than men; the pandemic has magnified the extent of that inequality. Globally, the effects of Covid-19 are felt more deeply and are more likely to extend far longer among women than for their male counterparts (Mahdi, 2020). Like previously experienced pandemics such as Ebola, the Covid-19 will exacerbate existing gender-based economic inequalities. To curb the spread of the Covid-19, many African governments enacted restrictions and lockdowns, measures that adversely and significantly affected women’s livelihoods and enterprises. The consequences predisposed women-owned businesses to huge declines in revenues, liquidity, and human capital. Finally, SDG 5 has an interconnection with other SDGs as its theme criss-crosses other goals (Adeola, 2020). Such related SDGs include— poverty (goal 1), hunger (goal 2), good health and well-being (goal 3), education (goal 4), decent work and economic growth (goal 8), building sustainable cities(goal11) and climate action (goal 13), and any pandemic effect on these goals will affect gender equality (Sachs et al., 2020). Therefore, these interconnected goals will suffer setbacks if the threats of the pandemic are not effectively addressed in Africa, particularly as it relates to gender, in order to Leave No One Behind by 2030, the mantra for the SDGs. This calls for an urgent response to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on women and girls, put in place adequate policy frameworks and ensure sustainable development goals in Africa are achieved.

Prosperity (SDGs 8–10) SDG 8 is directed at promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for

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all; SDG 9 targets strategies to build resilient infrastructure and promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and innovation. However, as a result of the lockdowns, isolations, and social distancing, firms engaged in these efforts have been forced to shut down and suspend activities. Many employees had contract suspended (or became unemployed) until the economy recovers. Though activities are progressively returning to normal in many countries, entrepreneurs and small-business owners are struggling for economic survival. The informal and less profitable nature of most women-owned businesses has exacerbated the challenge to cope with the Covid-19 crisis (Staab et al., 2020). The pandemic has, therefore, negatively affected the economy thereby, causing an adverse effect on the attainment of SDGs 8 and 9. SDG 10 aims at reducing inequality within and among countries. However, the pandemic may exacerbate global disparities in income and wealth; low-income earners will probably descend into poverty, and the unemployed will be left without resources outside of institutional or familial charity. Many experts and international institutions expect low-income countries to feel the greatest impact on capital outflows, with severe damage to economies that depend on the export of natural resources. The resultant higher unemployment rates and the difficulties in debt servicing could worsen food supplies (SDG 2), obstruct access to health care (SDG 3), interfere with school education (SDG 4), and block other sustainability efforts. African nations could take longer to recover, without the required support in the form of aids and subsidies. Accordingly, in African economies, the poor, with low savings and reduced access to health care, could suffer disproportionately compared to other developing nations.

Planet (SDGs 11–13) SDG 11 aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, SDG 12, ensures sustainable consumption and production patterns, while SDG 13 is directed at taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Regarding SDG 11, the pandemic amplified the local and urban vulnerabilities, with behavioural changes that affect sustainable cities and communities. According to the United Nations, the impact of Covid19 will be most devastating in poor and densely populated urban areas worldwide, particularly where people live in informal settlements and

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slums where overcrowding would make it challenging to adhere to recommended social distancing and self-isolation measures. Mobility issues disproportionately affect the most vulnerable who rely on public transportation, particularly blue-collar workers who depend on daily wages and essential workers who need transportation. Mobility behaviour also changed when the public transport system was perceived as posing greater risk of infection (Shulla et al., 2021). SDG 13 also has implications for the sustainability of cities and human settlement as it aims to take actions at combating climate change. There had been an expectation that the shutdown of entire economies worldwide would lead to significant declines in environmental degradation; that CO2 emissions would decline due to the decreased demand for fossil fuel by air travel and industrial operations and reduction in commuting due to work-from-home arrangements. It was hoped that this would enhance sustainability as reduced pollution would lead to cleaner air and beaches. The Carbon Monitor Project, which tracks CO2 emissions in close to real time, a year after the pandemic, showed that in the short and long term the pandemic had less effect on efforts to combat climate change as had been predicted and the impact was insufficient to stop climate change (Forster, 2021). Leal Filho et al. (2020) in their analysis, expect any improvements to be temporary, claiming that a return of economic activity after the pandemic may bring former levels of environmental degradation. Hence, nations are advised to explore ways to reduce emissions without the economic and social impact of lockdowns. Cheng et al. (2021) also indicated that the reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions would be short-term. Lockdown has consequences, including an increase in waste as recycling and waste management facilities shut down and packaging from surging online shopping rises (Ingilizian, 2020). SDG 12 supports sustainable consumption and production patterns. Sadly, the food waste problem has worsened during the pandemic. Huge amounts of food have been disposed of because the pandemic has caused the closure of restaurants, shops, and other food outlets. It is expected that the increased waste dumped in landfills will result in higher methane levels. It is important to note that methane is often more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas and is known to make up about half of all emissions from landfills (WHO, 2020). The pandemic threatens to reverse progress to reduce global plastic waste as single-use plastics are also on the rise. An increasing number of experts have warned about the plastics crisis in the

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future. It is important for companies and governments to join forces to lessen plastics usage and increase waste management.

Partnerships (SDG 17) SDG 17 aims to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. Calls by various institutions to remain focused on achieving the SDGs magnifies the relevance of the SDGs. However, African leaders have thus far not reaffirmed their commitments amid the immediacy of the pandemic. As the pandemic has cast an enormous light on the struggle for survival among the millions living in poverty in Africa, unequivocal responses and commitments to change are imperative. For example, to increase testing efforts and reduce Covid-19 spread in Africa, Africa Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) launched the Partnership to Accelerate Covid-19 Testing (PACT): Test, Trace, Treat (Africa CDC, 2020). PACT mobilises community workers, experts, supplies, and other resources to test, trace, and treat Covid-19 cases in a timely manner in order to minimise the effects of the pandemic on the continent. The partnerships involved in fighting Covid-19 build on years of partnership in public health to address diseases such as HIV and Ebola. For example, the US government provided the people of South Africa with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and technical assistance needed to contain the spread of Covid-19 (DVIDS, 2020). These included, among others, deployment of technical experts and epidemiologists across the country and a donation of 729,000 protective masks, 1,000 ventilators, and equipment for field hospitals and hand-washing stations (U.S. Embassy & Consulates in South Africa, 2020). Also, Microsoft, through its 4Afrika initiative, formed strategic partnerships with various healthcare providers across Africa, providing technical support and business consultancy (Microsoft 4Africa, 2021). Finally, Cheng et al. (2021) identified the impact of Covid-19 on specific sustainable development goals, which are highlighted in the Table below:

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SDGs

Impacts of Covid-19

SDG 1: No poverty

• Increased poverty due to job losses and economic lockdown • Disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups (e.g., the poor) • Food insecurity due to a reduction in global food supplies and trade • Hunger due to fall in incomes and reduced food availability during lockdown • Higher food loss and waste due to transportation challenges and reduced labour availability • Poorer nutrition due to interruption of school meals • Higher disease incidence and mortality from Covid-19 • Higher mortality from other causes because of overburdening of health systems • Slight decline in mortality due to reduced economic and social activities (e.g., traffic accidents) • Potential short-term health gains due to lower environmental pollution • Negative impact of confinement and lockdown on mental health (e.g., anxiety and depression) • School and day-care closures • Loss in the development of human capital • Poorer nutrition due to interruption of school meals • Possible disproportionate economic impacts on women (e.g., job losses, poverty) • Other social impacts on women from the lockdown (e. g., domestic violence) • Higher mortality rates from the virus among men (because they suffer from more chronic respiratory diseases due to higher smoking rate) • Limited access to clean water among disadvantaged groups limits possibility of adhering to strict hygiene guidelines

SDG 2: Zero hunger

SDG 3: Good health and well-being

SDG 4: Quality education

SDG 5: Gender Equality

SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation

(continued)

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(continued) SDGs

Impacts of Covid-19

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• Economic crisis in virtually all parts of the world • Trade disruption • Mass unemployment • Business closures/bankruptcies • Sharp decline in tourism activities • Massive public deficits • Disproportionate negative health and economic impacts on vulnerable groups (including refugees and migrants), especially in countries with low safety nets • Loss of jobs of lower-skilled, lower-wage labour • Rise in urban poverty and vulnerability • Shut down of public transports • Lower access to public/green spaces • Movements of population that vary across countries • Sharp short-term reduction in pollution levels • Short-term reduction in global GHG emissions • Pressure to reduce environmental safeguards • Lack of clarity on environmental investments • Slowdown in economic growth contributing to a reduction in energy prices (e.g., oil), which might increase access to energy but reduce incentives for renewables • Increased pressure on governments to mitigate the health and economic consequences of the pandemic • Pressure to increase accessible health care in countries that have not yet achieved universal health coverage • Increased public deficits and debt • Disruption of legislative processes and public debates • Suspension of freedom-of-information laws and transparency policies

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

SDG 13 Climate Action

SDG 16: Peace Justice and Strong Institution

Source Cheng et al. (2021)

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Implications and Conclusion The effects of pandemics are most often felt by the most vulnerable—particularly low-income workers, who experience challenges even buying daily necessities. The problems in the management of the current pandemic are not only limited to the delayed reaction of governments and policymakers all over the world, but also due to the ignorance of the threats. In the same way that the Spanish flu and SARS-1 were not taken seriously in time to provide protection and relief materials (Taylor, 2019), the initial response to the current pandemic was not proactive. The entire world was caught unprepared for the pandemic. In Africa, the fragile health security capacities, the lockdowns and resultant economic shock on households, in the context of the Covid-19 outbreak initially hindered the effective management of the pandemic. The pandemic became an added burden to the over-stretched health systems already struggling to cope with multifarious diseases, including malaria, AIDS, and Ebola, among others. Even though many African countries are curbing the spread of the virus, the pandemic still represents a major threat to the well-being of the people. Recovery from the considerable damage done by the Covid-19 pandemic may take years due to the uncertainties that lie ahead, but with effective vaccination strategies and other medical interventions, economic activities and social well-being of millions of people will gradually recover. Accordingly, accelerated efforts and significant investments in the field of public health should be pursued and directed towards measures to reduce exposure to SARS-COV-2. The Covid-19 crisis has indeed revealed lingering underinvestment in African healthcare systems over the last decades in terms of financing, governance, service delivery, infrastructure, personnel, and information technology. Accordingly, African nations need to prioritise investment in national emergency and economic recovery programmes. Instead of the narrow pursuit of economic growth, the governmental intention should be towards a framework for more inclusive growth. More than mere ideological shifts, the interests should be focused on making informed decisions in the interests of future generations. The pandemic’s glaring reminder of our collective vulnerability should drive us to achieve the SDGs and more inclusive development. The current adverse trends in economic indicators attributable to Covid-19 suggest that the implementation and achievement of the SDGs could be delayed as the socio-economic pressures of the pandemic have

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lowered the level of priority previously given to the SDGs. Quite a few experts have warned that the potentials and opportunities of the SDGs (such as poverty eradication) may be undercut by Covid-19 (see Leal Filho et al., 2020). Therefore, to safeguard the progress achieved to date and henceforth, emphasis should be placed on the implementation and achievement of the SDGs. Indeed, the Covid-19 crisis implies that the pursuit and implementation of the SDGs are even more imperative now than before because they represent a viable means of reversing the damage done by the pandemic. Taking advantage of the momentum generated by the pandemic to further accelerate the push for the SDGs may turn a global threat into a global opportunity, thereby, driving the attainment of the UN Agenda 2030. There is the present danger of each African nation shifting its attention inwards while ignoring the fact that they share similar public health challenges with the continent. Enhanced solidarity, in the form of a greater political commitment across all African countries, can ensure freer and greater access to health infrastructure materials so that no African country is at a disadvantage. The Covid-19 crisis requires an across-the-board response to solving the collective problem. Partnerships are imperative now more than ever to catalyse the push for further funding and enhance the Covid-19 response from African national governments. It is important to note that the private sector, via domestic initiatives and public–private partnerships (PPPs), has been instrumental in augmenting private funding for health in Africa, both before and during the pandemic. Partnerships formed to address Covid-19 challenges exist in the form of various funds created by governments, organisations, institutions, and individuals. A few examples of such partnerships are the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO, the Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund, and the South African Solidarity Fund. To fight COVID-19, merging regional procurement can be achieved through cooperation between the WHO-led UN Supply Chain Taskforce and Africa CDC, the Global Fund, and other organisations. African governments must also mobilise domestic funds, while bilateral and multilateral aid must be enlarged. Additionally, good governance is important to ensure that funds are channelled efficiently and appropriately. Also, there is need to realign with local government efforts to meet changing circumstances in a way that maximises efficiency and impact.

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Future Directions The future is uncertain. The capability to deliver the SDGs by 2030 is in doubt and may depend on how the post-COVID world emerges from the pandemic. This presents opportunities to refocus research efforts to address global humanitarian challenges that transcend national borders. Now is the right time to build on the literature by reinvigorating the drive for development research around a new refocused urgency that elaborates planetary and human health at its core. Despite the aspirations and global commitments to attain the SDGs, the progress has been suboptimal. The Covid-19 crisis has further slowed the process. Hence, further research into financial investments is needed to reinvent and reinvigorate health systems and learn from the pandemic experience ways to improve access, quality, and safety, and promote factors fostering healthy lifestyles in the future. As elaborated earlier, due to its broad scope and area of influence, Covid-19 may endanger the implementation process of the SDGs. It is a cautious warning to the scientific community to emphasise research into the speedy implementation of the SDGs, such that the progress made to date is not imperilled. To mitigate the impact of Covid-19 would require, in addition, an understanding of targeted social protection programmes to ensure that countries are on track to attain the SDGs. There is no doubt that Covid-19 will be defeated; but recovery plans and actions will decide its effect on the SDGs. The attainment of the sustainability development agenda is less than ten years in the future; yet the current stagnation in institutional resource flows to developing countries (as further influenced by the pandemic) poses a daunting task. Research should explore how the existing challenges and regulatory dilemmas that create bottlenecks to mobilising and channelling investments could be curtailed in order to achieve sustainable development goals. Understanding the full effects of Covid-19 on SDGs will require a comprehension of the complexity and uncertain nature of global challenges that are linked but experienced in distinct ways in different economic and social sectors. For instance, the pandemic has triggered challenges in healthcare, employment, governance, education, and the socio-economy. Hence, the issues emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic should be addressed by researchers in different fields to create in-depth knowledge that can mitigate the unintended effects associated with future threats to the SDG agenda. Future research should explore these new

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realities, new threats, and new challenges. Therefore, efforts should be directed at how the momentum achieved to date in some areas could be translated into action for SDG delivery.

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Fenner, R., & Cernev, T. (2021). The implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for delivering the sustainable development goals. Futures , 128, 102726. Forster, P. (2021). A year into the pandemic: 3 things we’ve learnt about the planet. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/ 03/climate-change-leeds-scientist-lockdown-emissions-covid-planet/ Gollakner, R., & Capua, I. (2020). Is COVID-19 the first pandemic that evolves into a panzootic? Veterinaria Italiana, 56(1), 11–12. Gonzalez-Perez, M. A., Mohieldin, M., Hult, G. T. M., & Velez-Ocampo, J. (2021). COVID-19, sustainable development challenges of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the potential engines for an SDGs-based recovery. Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, 19(1), 22–37. Gulseven, O., Al Harmoodi, F., Al Falasi, M., & ALshomali, I. (2020). How the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the UN sustainable development goals? Skyline University College. https://europepmc.org/article/ppr/ppr249561 Hörisch, J. (2021). The relation of COVID-19 to the UN sustainable development goals: Implications for sustainability accounting, management and policy research. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 12(5), 877–888. Ibn-Mohammed, T., Mustapha, K. B., Godsell, J. M., Adamu, Z., Babatunde, K. A., Akintade, D. D., Acquaye, A., Fujii, H., Ndiaye, M. M., Yamoah, F. A., & Koh, S. C. L. (2020). A critical review of the impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy and ecosystems and opportunities for circular economy strategies. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 164, 105169. Ingilizian, Z. (2020, May 14). Is staying in the new going out? How the COVID-19 pandemic is fuelling the stay-at-home economy. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/covid19-coronavirusdigitaleconomy-consumption-ecommerce-stay-at-home-online-education-str eaming International Institute for Sustainable Development. (2012). UN adviser proposes four pillars for post-2015 goals. http://sdg.iisd.org/news/un-adviser-pro poses-four-pillars-for-post-2015-goals/ International Labour Organization (2020, May 27). ILO monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work. https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/coronavirus/imp acts-and-responses/WCMS_745963/lang--en/index.htm Iwuoha, J. C., & Jude-Iwuoha, A. U. (2020). COVID-19: Challenge to SDG and globalization. Electronic Research Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2(3). Khetrapal, S., & Bhatia, R. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on health system & sustainable development goal 3. Indian Journal of Medical Research, 151(5), 395.

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Knobler, S. L., Mack, A., Mahmoud, A., & Lemon, S. M. (2005). The threat of pandemic influenza: Are we ready? National Library of Medicine workshop summary. https://doi.org/10.17226/11150 Leal Filho, W., Brandli, L. L., Lange Salvia, A., Rayman-Bacchus, L., & Platje, J. (2020). COVID-19 and the UN sustainable development goals: Threat to solidarity or an opportunity? Sustainability, 12(13), 5343. Liu, Y., Lee, J. M., & Lee, C. (2020). The challenges and opportunities of a global health crisis: The management and business implications of COVID-19 from an Asian perspective. Asian Business & Management, 19, 277–297. Mahdi, S. (2020, June 18). Status quo of women not sustainable, balance must be tilted. The Africa Report. https://www.theafricareport.com/30333/cor onavirus-status-quo-of-women-not-sustainable-balance-must-be-tilted Mejia, R., Hotez, P., & Bottazzi, M. E. (2020). Global COVID-19 efforts as the platform to achieving the sustainable development goals. Current Tropical Medicine Reports, 7 (4), 99–103. Microsoft 4Africa. (2021). Partnerships in times of crisis. https://www.microsoft. com/africa/4afrika/Partnershipintimesofcrisis.aspx Mukarram, M. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). Strategic Analysis, 44(3), 253–258. Myamba, F. (2020). Promoting women’s economic empowerment through social protection. Lessons from the productive social safety net program in Tanzania. UNICEF Office of Research–Innocenti. https://www.unicef-irc.org/article/ 1950-empowering-women-through-social-protection.html Naidoo, R., & Fisher, B. (2020). Reset sustainable development goals for a pandemic world. Nature, 583(7815), 198–201. OECD. (2020, April). Policy responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19) women at the core of the fight against COVID-19 crisis. https://www.oecd.org/corona virus/policy-responses/women-at-the-core-of-the-fight-against-covid-19-cri sis-553a8269/ OECD. (2020, May). Policy responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 and Africa: Socio-economic implications and policy responses. https://www. oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/covid-19-and-africa-socio-economicimplications-and-policy-responses-96e1b282/ Ogisi, O. R. D., & Begho, T. (2021). Covid-19: Ramifications for progress towards the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Nigeria. International Review of Applied Economics, 35(2), 256–268. Pan, S. L., & Zhang, S. (2020). From fighting COVID-19 pandemic to tackling sustainable development goals: An opportunity for responsible information systems research. International Journal of Information Management , 55, 102196. Peeri, N. C., Shrestha, N., Rahman, M. S., Zaki, R., Tan, Z., Bibi, S., Baghbanzadeh, M., Aghamohammadi, N., Zhang, W., & Haque, U. (2020). The

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SARS, MERS and novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemics, the newest and biggest global health threats: What lessons have we learned? International Journal of Epidemiology, 49(3), 717–726. Sachs, J. D., Karim, S. A., Aknin, L., Allen, J., Brosbøl, K., Barron, G. C., ... & Bartels, J. G. (2020). Lancet COVID-19 Commission Statement on the occasion of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. The Lancet, 396(10257), 1102–1124. Shamasunder, S., Holmes, S. M., Goronga, T., Carrasco, H., Katz, E., Frankfurter, R., & Keshavjee, S. (2020). COVID-19 reveals weak health systems by design: Why we must re-make global health in this historic moment. Global Public Health, 15(7), 1083–1089. Shipp, T. (2020, May 8). COVID-19 fallout could push half a billion people into poverty in developing countries. United Nationals University. https://unu.edu/media-relations/releases/covid-19-fallout-could-pushhalf-a-billion-people-into-poverty-in-developing-countries.html Shulla, K., Voigt, B. F., Cibian, S., Scandone, G., Martinez, E., Nelkovski, F., & Salehi, P. (2021). Effects of COVID-19 on the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Discover Sustainability, 2(1), 1–19. Staab, S., Tabbush, C., and Turquet, L (2020). Global gender response tracker assesses COVID-19 measures for women. https://data.unwomen.org/fea tures/global-gender-response-tracker-assesses-COVID-19-measures-women. Accessed March 10, 2020. Stephens, E. C., Martin, G., van Wijk, M., Timsina, J., & Snow, V. (2020). Impacts of COVID-19 on agricultural and food systems worldwide and on progress to the sustainable development goals. Agricultural Systems , 183, 102873. Sumner, A., Hoy, C., & Ortiz-Juarez, E. (2020). Estimates of the impact of COVID-19 on global poverty. UNU-WIDER, April, 800-9. Taylor, S. (2019). The psychology of pandemics: Preparing for the next global outbreak of infectious disease. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. The World Bank. ( 2020). COVID-19 to add as many as 150 million extreme poor by 2021. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/ 10/07/covid-19-to-add-as-many-as-150-million-extreme-poor-by-2021 U.S. Embassy & Consulates in South Africa. (2020). A strengthened partnership for post-COVID-19 economic recovery. U.S. Embassy & Consulates in South Africa [ONLINE]. https://za.usembassy.gov/a-strengthened-partnership-forpost-covid-19-economic-recovery/. Accessed September 17, 2020. UNDP. (n.d.). The SDGs in action: What are the sustainable development goals? https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals#:~:text=The%20Sust ainable%20Development%20Goals%20(SDGs)%2C%20also%20known%20as% 20the,people%20enjoy%20peace%20and%20prosperity

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United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) (2020). Progress towards the sustainable development goals: Report of the Secretary-General. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/26158F inal_SG_SDG_Progress_Report_14052020.pdf United Nations. (2020). Policy brief: The impact of COVID-19 on women. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/policy_brief_on_covid_ impact_on_women_9_apr_2020_updated.pdf. Accessed June 18, 2021. WHO (World Health Organization). (2020). WHO concerned over COVID-19 impact on women, girls in Africa. https://www.afro.who.int/news/who-con cerned-over-covid-19-impact-women-girls-africa Worldometer. (2021, June 18). COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. https://www. worldometers.info/coronavirus/?utm_campaign=homeaduoa?si Zhan, J. X., & Santos-Paulino, A. U. (2021). Investing in the sustainable development goals: Mobilization, channeling, and impact. Journal of International Business Policy, 4(1), 166–183.

CHAPTER 3

Protecting Women and the Girl Child in Sub-Saharan Africa Against Extreme Poverty and Hunger During a Pandemic: Lessons from Covid-19 Yvonne Uchechukwu Carver

Introduction In December 2019, Chinese health officials first reported cases of symptoms associated with the novel coronavirus in the Wuhan region of China (WHO, 2020). Since then, the highly infectious disease spread rapidly across the globe, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020, and a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the single-stranded virus that causes the disease and clinical syndrome

Y. U. Carver (B) West African Health Organization, Economic Community of West African States, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_3

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now commonly known as Covid-19.1 The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic has been near debilitating at worst for several countries and created economic and social setbacks for other countries in the best-case scenarios. To curb the spread of the pandemic, countries began implementing public health non-pharmaceutical measures that included lockdowns, curfews, air and land border closures, quarantine, and self-isolation, among others. The rapidly evolving nature of the pandemic information forced countries to act reactively to several of these measures. One pressing example is that similarly to high-income countries (HICS), low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) pushed to adopt lockdown response measures recommended by WHO, despite their inability to meet the basic demands of their citizens, pre-pandemic (Eyawo et al., 2021). Some LMICs often struggled with the provision of clean water, uninterrupted food supply chain, accessibility to constant electricity, and other basic structures necessary to cushion the shock of these restrictive lockdown measures or enhance community compliance. The resulting toll on life and the economic instability across the global community, particularly in the lower economic countries, cannot be overstated. Data from a 2020 report by the World Bank Group projected a 5.2% contraction on global economic output based on the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).2 This same report showed that the US economy, which vaults the largest GDP in the world, contracted by as much as 4.7%, directly resulting from the lockdown measures enacted across its 50 states. Generally, lockdowns and other Covid-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions had far greater economic impacts on LMICs when measured against the HICS using universally acceptable economic values. The resultant effect of the economic downsizing juxtaposed against existing pre-pandemic socioeconomic disparities exposed the economic fragility of many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2 set ambitious goals to end poverty in all its forms everywhere, end hunger, and improve food security respectively.3 The pandemic, unsurprisingly, affected the

1 https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019. 2 https://www.who.int/news/item/13-10-2020-impact-of-covid-19-on-people. 3 https://sdgs.un.org/.

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progress of both goals in significant proportions across the global community but particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although not an obvious priority at the onset of the pandemic response efforts, protecting the women and girl child in Sub-Saharan Africa against Covid-19 induced hunger and poverty, should be the impetus for governments in SubSaharan Africa to take meaningful strides in addressing economic precarity among the women and girl child in the region.

Covid-19 in Africa Recognizing the high transmissibility of the Covid-19 virus, disease epidemiologists and public health officials naturally envisioned that the virus would cross numerous borders. What was not yet known was the extent that it would. The World Health Organization (WHO), the leading public health body, made strides to mitigate the impact of the virus, providing guidelines and policies focusing on preparatory measures, response, and recovery efforts to its Member States across the globe. Public health and government officials in Africa acted considerably late. Although lacking the resources and capacity to remain lock-in-step with high-income countries in responding to rapidly evolving information regarding the pandemic, the fundamental understanding was that reducing the transmissibility of the virus was key. Regional Economic Communities (RECs), health ministers, public health entities, and Heads of States began to proactively discuss measures to achieve this rudimentary goal of combating the virus. It is important to note that leading the way in coordinating a subregional pandemic response was the role of REC, West African Health Organization (WAHO), which convened a meeting of the Ministers of Health of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), two weeks before the first recorded case in West Africa.4 The objective behind the meeting was to build the human resource and institutional capacities at the local, national, and regional levels in the ECOWAS region to enhance surveillance, prevention, and case management of Covid-19 cases (Ibid). Specifically, the Ministers of Health of the 15 ECOWAS Member States used this forum as a backdrop for assessing infection prevention and control measures, resource mobilisation techniques, laboratory capacity, and risk communication (WAHO, 4 https://www.wahooas.org/web-ooas/en/actualites/benin-burkina-faso-cabo-verdecote-divoire-gambia-ghana-guinee-guinee-bissau-liberia-21.

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2020). Following the meeting, national governments imposed varying degrees of lockdown measures within their respective countries. Although there was no mathematical uniformity in these lockdown measures, the goal remained the same, mitigating or eliminating person-to-person transmission and the spread of the virus within the communities. Restrictive measures consisted of self-isolation, quarantine, curfews, closures of schools and businesses, reducing crowd sizes through social distancing practices in offices and churches, border closures, and travel restrictions (World Health Organization, 2020). In public health, ethical justifications that govern such restrictive measures require a balancing of societal gains against individual harm or autonomy. When instituting these lockdown measures, governments were obligated to analyse potential scenarios from a myriad of perspectives to ensure the least harm to both the society and individual citizens, using evidence-based findings in determining the length and degree of these restrictive measures. As of early June 2021, 15 months after the first reported case of Covid19 in the region, the situational epidemiological report showed that the total number of cases was at 476,992, the total number of deaths was at 6,325, total recovered cases was 459,055, and active cases at 11,611 (WAHO, 2021). Further disaggregation of this data showed that overall, women accounted for around 40% of Covid-19 cases in Africa, with a range of 35% in some countries to approximately 55% in the South African region (WHO, 2020). The degree of support systems across several low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa may help determine the extent to which the poverty indices were mitigated or exacerbated in reference to the economic consequences of the pandemic. For instance, Ghana instituted its lockdown measures early in the pandemic but made efforts to ensure that its citizens had greater access to electricity for better compliance with stay-home and lockdown measures (Issahaku & Abu, 2020). Other countries such as Nigeria, which also instituted strict lockdown measures early, have struggled to meet the demands of electricity of its citizens and fared even worse during the pandemic to ease the harshness of stay-home measures. Existing literature highlights a comprehensive connection between reliable and affordable electricity with economic prosperity in non-pandemic conditions (Chu, & Majumdar, 2012; Gansukh, 2021; Rafique et al., 2017). This would have made it challenging for women, as the infrequent energy supply may have caused spoilage of food items and could theoretically heighten the burden for women already struggling to feed

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their families. One measure taken by the government of Nigeria in direct response to the scarcity of electricity was to suspend the payment of new electricity tariffs that was originally scheduled to take effect during the height of the first wave of the pandemic in the region. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) cited poor electricity supply and the deleterious impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as reasons for suspending the payment (KPMG, 2020). Any direct benefit of the suspended payment in alleviating poverty or hunger for marginalised women and girls in Nigeria may be too attenuated to determine. Notwithstanding the shortage of electricity in Nigeria, it is necessary to note that Nigeria implemented economic stimulus and tax measures specifically to help its citizens deal with the negative impact of the lockdown measures (Onyekwena & Ekeruche, 2020). In the Sahelian region, Burkina Faso, for example, was dealing with a humanitarian crisis resulting from violent terrorist conflicts, that as of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, had affected over 2 million people and displaced over a million people in the country. The displacement of persons stretched an already weak infrastructure and reduced the country’s ability to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic with the necessary vigour (WHO, 2020). Furthermore, the combination of the ongoing humanitarian crises, the pandemic and weak health infrastructure significantly impacted other socio-economic and development programmes in Burkina Faso (UNDP Burkina Faso, 2020). Existing programmes, such as those that focused on maternal and child health, were on hold as funds were reappropriated to deal with the pandemic (KPMG, 2020). To demonstrate further the financial juggling that occurred, available data from the World Bank shows that the total health expenditure for Burkina Faso was approximately $40 (5.63% of annual GDP) per individual in 2018, an amount when measured against health expenditure in the United States, $10,800 per person, illustrates the level of insufficiency (World Bank, 2018). Not only were women and girls facing disparate impacts from the pandemic, as noted earlier, but any reduction to healthcare expenditure for social programmes specifically targeting women and girls could exacerbate the marginalisation of this group. To its credit, the government of Burkina Faso recognised quickly the need to revise its 2020 budget in order to address the socio-economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Measures considered during the budgetary revision included lowering import and customs taxes on critical medical goods, suspending government fees on rent in the marketplaces

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for those employed in the informal sector, providing assistance in the form of food donations to select households and small businesses, and providing subsidies to water and electricity to the most vulnerable social groups (KPMG, 2020). Although other budgetary measures were introduced, of particular significance here are those mentioned due to their implications on SDGs 1 and 2. In spite of the laudable efforts made by the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the impact of the Covid-19 on poverty and hunger in the region was significant. Points to consider at this stage in the pandemic, especially as the global community begins to chart the course to full recovery, must include aggressive strategies that tackle food insecurity and poverty indices, especially as they apply to the women and girl child in SubSaharan Africa. A look at the consequences of the pandemic on SDG 1 and 2 provides an appropriate backdrop to ensuring that subsequent recommendations place the woman and girl child at the centre of recovery initiatives.

Consequences of Covid-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa on Poverty and Hunger Considering that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa lacked the requisite capacity, social infrastructure, and general resources to maintain sustained lockdown measures, the resulting effect was that the citizens were at a greater risk of experiencing starvation and increased poverty (Chriscaden, 2020). A report from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) estimated that up to 29 million Africans were expected to fall into the category of extreme poverty because of the impact of Covid-19. Regarding affected children, ECA estimated that 42–66 million children could potentially fall into extreme poverty following the pandemic, in addition to the existing 386 million children in extreme poverty from the last report released in 2019 (Economic Commission for Africa, 2021). Notwithstanding the well-intentioned measures focusing on pandemic preparations and strengthening of disease surveillance, conspicuously missing from these plans, was a targeted agenda for addressing the potentiality of worsening economic instability for a significant number of the population, in particular women and girls in Africa. Existing gender inequality and the marginalisation of women in certain parts of Sub-Saharan Africa exacerbated the impact of the pandemic on

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the women and girl child. Intimated reasons for the disproportionate economic impact on women across the globe include fewer earnings, employment in less secure jobs, and a greater chance of being employed in the informal sector than the formal sector. This is particularly true in low-income economies where 70% of women are employed in the informal sector (United Nations, 2020). Moreover, informal employment precludes the existence of an economic safety net and offers few protections against inconsistent pay or the absence from work for any reason. To compound the issue, the type of work that is typical in the informal sector is largely dependent on social and human interactions. Therefore, the lockdowns and other forms of restrictive measures significantly curtailed their earning capacity. According to the SDGs COVID Baseline scenario report, an estimated 44 million people would be living in extreme poverty by 2030 while the high damage scenario forecast estimated that 251 million people will be living in extreme poverty. The report also highlighted that ambitious SDG investments could help navigate the Covid-19 impact and set the world on a new development trajectory (UNDP, n.d.). Saccone (2021) studied the effect of the Covid-19 on the achievement of the Zero Hunger goal and offered that the pandemic in the short run has affected food insecurity, which in turn, will lead to millions of malnourished people and jeopardise, in the long run, the achievement of the Zero Hunger goal by 2030. From a gender lens, the pandemic has exacerbated the inequality between man and women and socio-economic conditions such as poverty and hunger has also been greatly affected. According to the UN Women (2020) report, current data shows that there is an increase in the percentage of women in extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa which if policies are not made in response to the wide socio-economic inequalities initiated by the pandemic, achieving the No poverty target of SDG 1 would be difficult to attain by 2030. The informal sector contributes enormously to the economy of Sub-Saharan countries and women dominate about 90% of people in the informal sector (WHO, 2020). The pandemic affected the livelihood of many of these women due to restrictions in movement through lockdowns. A report by Copley et al. (2020) showed that majority of the business that were closed in Africa during the pandemic were owned by women and this has implications for women’s livelihood. Rafaeli and Hutchinson (2020) predicted that due to the pandemic, women will experience an increase in poverty rate, low income, and economic disempowerment—a projection which will affect

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the achievement of SDG 1 as 2030 draws closer. Fagbemi (2021) posited that SDG 1 and 2 are the most affected SDGs in Africa and suggested that it might be difficult for Nigeria and Africa to achieve the SDGs by 2030 due to the rampaging effect of the pandemic. The impact of Covid-19 on food security is recorded as both direct and indirect, with agricultural production projected to contract between 2 and 7% as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic (The World Bank, 2021). The pandemic’s effect on hunger has dire consequences for the women and girl child in Sub-Saharan Africa, if not sufficiently addressed. Measures such as curfews, border closures, closing of markets, and other trade restrictions severely impacted both large- and small-scale agricultural farmers’ ability to harvest and trade their crops for optimal gains of their produce. The consequent result has been a disruption to the global food supply chain and, in some cases, caused a scarcity of food (The World Bank, 2021). Although no current disaggregated data by gender exists that illustrates an accurate number of women in agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, most analysts suggest that approximately 60–80% of women in this region are engaged in some form of agriculture (The World Bank). Considering the fact that up to 70% of the women in these same economies are employed in the informal sector, the food security and nutrition of these women and their families are in peril. Further to these factors, women are often the custodian of their homes, and a loss of earnings could potentially limit their ability to support their families and households with fiscal efficiency (United Nations, 2020). One such example can be extrapolated from the school closures initiated by many countries during the pandemic. Evidence shows that the school closures forced a disruption for children dependent on the school feeding programmes, and inadvertently increased expenditure for households reliant on these meals (United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization, n.d.). Existing data illustrates that families who relied on free meals from schools were able to save, on average, 10% of their income for use on other household items before the school closures (United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization, n.d.). In addition to the potential increase in expenditure, more people in a household increases the burden of domestic household work. Even though this issue affects both the man and woman, the degree of the burden is not equal. Women are reportedly spending three times more hours per day on domestic work more than men, making it harder

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to balance other needs, including ensuring that food remains sufficient (United Nations, 2020). Socio-economic factors, in the aggregate, reduce the capacity of women to cushion the economic consequences of Covid-19 less effectively (Brodeur et al., 2021). As the pandemic exposes pre-existing inequalities and socio-economic vulnerabilities, solutions developed must address the disparate effects of the pandemic on women, lest the issue creates a revolving cycle of gender inequality. Emerging data shows that the pandemic will push 47 million women and girls into extreme poverty by 2021, thus bringing the total number of women and girls living under poverty to approximately 435 million (UN Women, 2020). Meaningful and sustainable solutions must put the women and girl child at the forefront (United Nations, 2020).

Achieving SDGs 1 and 2 Despite Covid-19 Before authorities identified the novel Coronavirus in Wuhan in December 2019, there had been four other influenza-type outbreaks across the globe in the last century (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2021). Public Health entities across the globe recognised that incorporating pandemic preparedness in their public health approaches, greatly mitigated the impact of any ensuing influenza or contagious disease outbreaks. However, by the time the WHO declared the novel Coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), on January 30, 2020, and a pandemic on March 11, 2020, countries appeared ill-prepared, embarking on a scattershot approach in their response efforts to the pandemic. Case in point, the Global Health Security (GHS) Index showed countries like the United States and the United Kingdom with high rankings in some of its categories that measure country preparedness against pandemics. However, the median scores and ranking of all six major GHS categories indicated that neither high-income country was “adequately prepared to respond to potentially catastrophic infectious disease outbreaks”, such as the Covid19 pandemic (Global Health Security Index, 2020). The reason is that both countries fared rather poorly in the health system category, an important indicator of a country’s disease preparedness and response capabilities. Thus, the lack of a robust healthcare system with the capacity to produce equal access to health services is problematic and an indicator of poor pandemic management (Global Health Security Index, 2020).

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Nonetheless, the overarching public health objectives during the pandemic were to curb the spread of the virus and save lives. Many countries looked towards WHO guidelines on Covid-19 as a path to achieving both objectives. As previously stated, some of the guidelines for fighting the spread of Covid-19 included the use of lockdowns. Due to the restrictive nature of the lockdown, the general idea behind its use was to “buy” countries time in order to improve response efforts through the use of surge capacity of health practitioners or scaling up productivity of medical goods, testing kits, and other relevant products (World Health Organization). It was introduced as a temporary measure needed to “flatten the curve” and minimise person-to-person transmission. Unfortunately, for most of our countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the idea of a lockdown proved to be a costly burden. With substandard health infrastructure in existence pre-pandemic, low numbers of skilled healthcare workers, and the lack of an existing social system that could provide stimulus checks, the effects of the lockdown have been devastating (Eyawo et al., 2021). The SDGs 1 and 2 were not on track for full achievement by the year 2030 (Sustainable Development Goals, n.da; Sustainable Development Goals, n.db). Currently, the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing socio-economic disparities, and at the same time, has threatened to derail any gains made in improving the levels of hunger and poverty in women and the girl child in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the United Nations reports on the progress of the SDGs, the Covid-19 pandemic would likely cause a one-third reduction in the progress made on specific genderfocused SDG initiatives, creating an undesirable avenue for an increase in the marginalisation, discrimination, and neglect of women and the girl child. Neglecting to address the pandemic and the economic crisis it continues to generate will inevitably widen the gender gap after an extended period of constant reduction of gender inequality. The SDG 1 strives to end poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030. Notably, most of the people identified as living in extreme poverty are located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since the pandemic, the number of persons who fall within the poverty rate is estimated to have increased by approximately 8% of the total global population (UN, n.d.). The SDG 2 aims for zero hunger by 2030. The achievements noted in SDG 2 were even less impressive, as the number of people affected by hunger would have increased by 2030 using current trends pre-pandemic (Sustainable Development Goals, n.da).

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Recognizing the severity of inaction, the UN developed a Global Humanitarian Response Plan to the pandemic, which specifically focuses on helping the world’s poorest countries respond to the pandemic while addressing the needs of the most vulnerable within that subgroup, including those facing food insecurity.

Recommendations for Achieving SDGs 1 and 2 for Women in Sub-Saharan Africa, Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic It is a fact that Africa was not on track to achieving either goal identified in SDG 1 and 2 even before the pandemic. The question, thus, centres on whether Sub-Saharan African countries can still achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030? Although the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the growth trajectories in the region, the ability of the region to reach SDG objectives lies in accelerating the growth at a greater pace than before the pandemic. One lesson that African leadership must take away from the pandemic is the urgent need for gender-inclusive socio-economic reforms and policies. Although adopting the lockdown measures led to fewer confirmed cases and deaths, the ensuing impact on poverty and hunger will continue to reverberate through these communities in Sub-Saharan Africa for years to come. Mitigating the impact requires multi-factorial and aggressive strategies that place the women and girl child at the centre of a recovery process. The strategies are, therefore, discussed as follows: (A) Gender-focused Pandemic Recovery Plans: Decision-makers, policy developers, and other stakeholders should strive to develop recovery plans through a gender lens that permits countries to improve upon the Gender Equality Index by continuing to promote educational and economic opportunities for the women and girl child. In addition, economic progress is attainable if women are provided with meaningful family planning options and empowered to use modern contraceptives. Of equal importance is the development of initiatives that continually minimise gender-based education gaps, ensuring that women remain in competitive roles in the formal and informal labour markets. These interventions reach greater sustainable goals when incorporating

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sex-disaggregated data that specifically target women and pave the way for developing economies to rebound with equitable growth. (B) Improve the global food supply chain for large- and small-scale farmers: By investing in agricultural initiatives particularly in rural areas, and looking through a gender lens, governments in SubSaharan Africa are presented with an opportunity for meaningful and sustainable changes that tackle the food supply chain in the region. Sub-Saharan Africa must diversify and move away from its continuous reliance on natural resources as a singular source of income for its citizens. Investing in innovative agricultural activities for women in Sub-Saharan Africa increases food productivity, and subsequently, economic stability. More disaggregated data is required to ensure that the initiative specifically targets expanding the benefits for the women and girl child in Sub-Saharan Africa. (C) Increase in local manufacturing: During the initial stages of the pandemic in 2020, many high-income countries began limiting the export of critically needed medical materials, choosing to stockpile for their citizens. This type of protectionism, although an understandable reaction as a result of a pandemic that was difficult to predict, the impact was nonetheless detrimental to women in various employment sectors in developing economies, putting their economic earnings in peril. Although many countries in SubSaharan Africa were able to procure from a few select countries, it presented an insight into the need to reduce dependency on external sources as realistically possible. Increasing local production leads to an increase in employment opportunities for women, particularly in the informal sector in LMICs. (D) Access to healthcare and social benefits: Of importance is the need to increase access to healthcare services to help bridge the gender gap in most developing economies. This should correlate with an increase in social benefits that include universal healthcare services that reduce out-of-pocket expenses for consumers and inclusion of other social benefits, equitably distributed for women that are employed in both the formal and informal sectors. (E) Strengthening of Surveillance mechanisms in LMICs : One of the most valuable lessons learned in Sub-Saharan Africa following the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak was the need for effective disease

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surveillance that ensured continuous collection, analysis, and interpretation of epidemiological data essential to planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions. The importance of using innovative digital technology in disease surveillance was not missed in Africa during the Covid-19 pandemic. Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa recognised the need for improvement in technologically driven initiatives when developing plans and policies. Several countries began using digital tracking for contact tracing, results of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), tests, and records of vaccinations. As it relates to combating poverty and hunger, prompt detection of the next virus causing pandemic can preclude the transfer of much-needed funds to combat another pandemic. (F) Collaboration: The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the significance of early scientific collaboration in mitigating the negative impact of the virus. With collaboration, countries can share information and proven best practices that address the poverty and hunger issues stemming from inadequate basic services and infrastructure. These collaborative efforts can also help identify gaps and innovative methods when addressing issues of hunger as a result of the pandemic. (G) Increase in research and use of evidence-based findings in decisionmaking and policy development: Developing countries, particularly those with a significant youth population, should focus on the use of research and technology to ensure optimal transformation of the concept of demographic dividends. The theory of demographic dividends highlights the interrelationship between high fertility, high infant mortality rates to low socio-economic development, if when reversed, leads to increased social and economic development. Specifically, the correlation between health, fertility rates, child marriages and economic growth are harnessed to ensure self-sustaining policies in developing economies.

Conclusion The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the majority of countries across the globe. The constant drumbeat around the pandemic was that this was a highly contagious virus with the potential for devastating effects on life, property, and the economy as a whole. Countries did heed calls

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for reducing person-to-person transmission. Unfortunately, not enough attention was paid at the onset to the deleterious effects of the Covid19 virus on poverty and hunger, particularly as it relates to low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a result, much of the population is under threat of a protracted negative experience from the pandemic. Women especially have been found to experience the consequences of an economic downturn of a pandemic to a greater degree than men. As the region continues to work towards achieving the SDGs by 2030, the pandemic recovery efforts must be gender-sensitive.

References Brodeur, A., Gray, D., Islam, A., & Bhuiyan, S. (2021). A literature review of the economics of COVID-19. Journal of Economic Surveys, 35(4), 1007–1044. Chriscaden, K. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on people’s livelihoods, their health and our food systems. Retrieved https://reliefweb.int/report/world/ impact-covid-19-peoples-livelihoods-their-health-and-our-food-systems?gclid= CjwKCAiAqIKNBhAIEiwAu_ZLDtXJFk07mkrx8w0wQ5ZOCjJzPA5tC8B rsP3mRlTd79RUTPQBGmD0FxoCtHMQAvD_BwE. Chu, S., & Majumdar, A. (2012). Opportunities and challenges for a sustainable energy future. Nature, 488(7411), 294–303. Copley, A., Decker, A., Delavelle, F., Goldstein, M., O’Sullivan, M., Papineni, S. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic through a gender lens. Africa Knowledge in Time Policy Brief. Washington, DC: World Bank. Eyawo, O., Viens, A. M., & Ugoji, U. C. (2021). Lockdowns and low-and middle-income countries: Building a feasible, effective, and ethical COVID-19 response strategy. Globalization and Health, 17 (1), 1–5. Fagbemi, F. (2021). COVID-19 and sustainable development goals (SDGs): An appraisal of the emanating effects in Nigeria. Research in Globalization, 3, 100047. Gansukh, Z. (2021). Mongol dream beyond fossil fuels: Prosperity of greenification. Renewable Energy, 171, 95–102. Global Health Security Index. (2020, April 27). The U.S. and COVID-19: Leading the world by GHS Index score, not by response. https://www.ghs index.org/news/the-us-and-covid-19-leading-the-world-by-ghs-index-scorenot-by-response/ Issahaku, H., & Abu, B.M. (2020). COVID-19 in Ghana: Consequences for poverty, and fiscal implications. The African Economic Research Consortium P.O. Box 62882—City Square Nairobi 00200, Kenya. KPMG. (2020, June 24). Burkina Faso: Government and institution measures in response to COVID-19. https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2020/

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04/burkina-faso-government-and-institution-measures-in-response-to-covid. html KPMG. (2020, October 28). Nigeria: Government and institution measures in response to COVID-19. https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2020/ 04/nigeria-government-and-institution-measures-in-response-to-covid.html Onyekwena, C., & Ekeruche, M. A. (2020). Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the Nigerian economy. https://www.brookings.edu/ blog/africa-in-focus/2020/04/08/understanding-the-impact-of-the-covid19-outbreak-on-the-nigerian-economy/ Rafaeli, T., & Hutchinson, G. (2020). The secondary impacts of COVID-19 on women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa. https://resourcecentre.savethechild ren.net/node/18153/pdf/830_covid19_girls_and_women_ssa.pdf Rafique, R., Mun, K. G., & Zhao, Y. (2017). Designing energy supply chains: Dynamic models for energy security and economic prosperity. Production and Operations Management, 26(6), 1120–1141. Saccone, D. (2021). Can the Covid19 pandemic affect the achievement of the ‘Zero Hunger’goal? Some preliminary reflections. The European Journal of Health Economics, 22(7)–1025–1038. Sustainable Development Goals (n.da). Goal 2: Zero Hunger. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/. Sustainable Development Goals (n.db). Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ poverty/. The World Bank. (2018). Current health expenditure per capita (current US$)—Burkina Faso. World Health Organization Global Health Expenditure Database. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.PC. CD?locations=BF-US The World Bank. (2020, June 8). COVID-19 to plunge global economy into worst recession since World War II . https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/pressrelease/2020/06/08/covid-19-to-plunge-global-economy-into-worst-recess ion-since-world-war-ii The World Bank. (n.d.). Women, agriculture and work in Africa. https://www. worldbank.org/en/programs/africa-myths-and-facts/publication/women-agr iculture-and-work-in-africa The World Health Organization. (2020). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus2019 The World Health Organization (WHO). (2020, October 9). Impact of COVID-19 on people’s livelihoods, their health and our food systems. Joint statement by ILO, FAO, IFAD and WHO. https://www.who.int/news/ item/13-10-2020-impact-of-covid-19-on-people%27s-livelihoods-their-hea lth-and-our-food-systems

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UNDP. (n.d.). Global SDG integration; Impact of COVID-19 on the sustainable development goals. https://sdgintegration.undp.org/accelerating-develo pment-progressduring-covid-19 UNESCO. (n.d.). Adverse consequences of school closures. https://en.unesco.org/ covid19/educationresponse/consequences United Nations. (n.d.). Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere. https:// www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/poverty/ United Nations Development Programme Regional Bureau for Africa (UNDP Burkina Faso) (2020). Support to the national response to contain the impact of COVID-19. https://www.undp.org United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. (ECA). (2021, March 2). 514 million Africans risk falling below extreme poverty line in 2021 due to COVID-19. https://www.uneca.org/stories/514-million-africans-risk-fallingbelow-extreme-poverty-line-in-2021-due-to-covid-19 United Nations. (2020, April 9). Policy brief: The impact of COVID19 on women. https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attach ments/sections/library/publications/2020/policy-brief United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development. (n.d.). Making the SDGs a reality. https://sdgs.un.org/ U.N. Women. (2020). Press release: COVID-19 will widen poverty gap between women and men, new UN Women and UNDP data shows. https://www.unw omen.org/en/news/stories/2020/8/press-release-covid-19-will-widen-pov erty-gap-between-women-and-men U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2021). Pandemic preparedness in the workplace and the Americans with disabilities act. https://www. eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/pandemic-preparedness-workplace-and-americansdisabilities-act West African Health Organization—WAHO. (2020). Press release. https://www. wahooas.org/web-ooas/en/mediatheque/articles West African Health Organization—WAHO. (2021). ECOWAS COVID-19 Dashboard. https://data.wahooas.org/outbreaks/#/. WHO. (2020, June, 18). WHO concerned over COVID-19 impact on women, girls in Africa. https://www.afro.who.int/news/who-concerned-over-covid19-impact-women-girls-africa World Bank. (2021). Food security and COVID-19. https://www.worldbank. org/en/topic/agriculture/brief/food-security-and-covid-19 World Health Organization. (2020). Critical preparedness, readiness and response actions for COVID-19: Interim guidance, 22 March 2020. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/331511

CHAPTER 4

Gender-Based Violence and Covid-19: The Shadow Pandemic in Africa Comfort O. Oyafunke-Omoniyi, Isaiah Adisa, and Abolaji A. Obileye

Introduction The Covid-19 pandemic was unplanned, so also its concomitant realities that led to spontaneous actions and reactions from individuals, government, regional, and world organisations (Wilenski, 2021). On the part of the government, the history of global pandemics has taught many quick responses to abate the spread of viruses among the people. One such

C. O. Oyafunke-Omoniyi Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria I. Adisa (B) Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria A. A. Obileye Department of Criminology, Security, Peace and Conflict Studies, Caleb University, Lagos, Nigeria

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_4

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response is the declaration of lockdowns (Bol et al., 2021; Eyawo et al., 2021; Imtyaz et al., 2020; Ren, 2020) which has also had its own social and economic effects. According to Bettinger-Lopez and Bro (2020: 1): Governments worldwide have imposed lockdowns to contain the coronavirus, but those same restrictions have increased the risks associated with domestic violence, especially for women and children….

Lockdown can be described as a compulsory closure which can either be partial or total (Ren, 2020). Lockdown became a source of intervention for governments to reduce and curb the spread of the virus. However, in the process of offering solutions to the spread of the virus, another pandemic—violence against women, resurfaced due to the lockdown (Bettinger-Lopez & Bro, 2020; Mittal & Singh, 2020). Mittal and Singh (2020) averred that the socio-economic and psychological consequences of forceful stay at home necessitated another dilemma for the human society to deal with. One of the most propagated negative effects of the pandemic is gender-based violence. The rates of occurrence during natural and health-related disasters geometrically increased with little or no corresponding responses to curtail the issue at hand. Gender-based violence covers the physical, psychological, economical, and sexual abuse experienced by women, which was heightened during the Covid-19 lockdown (Mahtani, 2020). Gender-based violence is mostly perpetrated by intimate partners to the women, and calls reporting violence against women has intensified in both developed and developing nations of the world since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic (Bettinger-Lopez & Bro, 2020; Mahtani, 2020). In Africa, the narrative is the same. For instance, in Kenya, calls reporting domestic violence increased by 34% in the first three weeks of the lockdown, while South Africa reported a similar scenario that domestic violence in the first four days of the lockdown doubled (Mahtani, 2020). Though, women and girls are the most vulnerable during a time of crisis and are exposed to abuse (Arendt, 2020; O’Brien & Tolosa, 2016), the cause of violence against women during the Covid19 pandemic has mostly been assumed. Violence against women is not just gaining traction; it has been a global phenomenon even before the Covid-19 (Decker et al., 2015; Devries et al., 2013; Onyago et al., 2019). A World Health Organization report estimated that about 736 million women (one in three women) experience domestic violence from their

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intimate partner or non-partner sexual violence, or both once in their life—30% of women between the ages of 15 and above (World Health Organization, 2021). The rate of violence recorded against women is alarming, and this necessitated its inclusion in the Sustainable Development Goals 5, target 2, which is focused on—“eliminating all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation” (Peake & Nyasimi, 2015; UN Women, 2017). Despite the efforts of leaders in Africa to change the narrative of African women on gender-based violence, the continent still struggles with systemic issues inhibiting the achievement of the “Africa We Want” and the SDGs 5 (Obileye & Enapeh, 2020). There is evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic and its containment measures have further exacerbated the violence against women and girls (VAWG) situation in Africa. Disasters have a greater impact on women and girls (Thurston et al., 2021), and the current realities of the Covid-19 pandemic provide a veritable platform to offer practical solutions to issues of violence experienced by women in Africa, especially during a pandemic or climaterelated disaster. This chapter offers government and other stakeholders’ suggestions on avoiding and reducing the rate of women subjected to gender-related violence in Africa during a crisis. As we draw closer to 2030—the target year for the SDGs, it is crucial that we evaluate the setbacks engendered through the Covid-19 and provide direction for the achievement of the SDGs 5; target 2. The above represents the crux of this chapter. The rest of the chapter is structured as follows; the next section highlights the African situation on gender-based violence prior Covid-19. We then discuss gender-based violence and Covid-19 in Africa. Next, we discuss how governments of nations in Africa can respond to GBV during a pandemic or disaster. Finally, we offer recommendations and conclusions towards ensuring that women are not alienated from their human rights.

Gender-Based Violence---The African Situation Pre-Pandemic Gender-based violence (GBV) is an age-long global issue prevalent in all societies, cultural groups, and social classes (Obileye & Enapeh, 2020). According to World Bank (2019), GBV attracts global attention since it affects one in every three women in their lifespan before the outbreak of

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Covid-19. In the view of Dlamini (2020), GBV can be traced throughout women’s life-cycle from infancy to their old age in familial contexts such as the community and society. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2018) shows that 18% of girls and women between the ages of 15 and 49 have experienced either physical or sexual violence by intimate partners in 2017. In a more recent United Nations Women report, 87,000 women were intentionally killed by an intimate partner or family member globally (UN Women, March 2021). Matters are, therefore, made worse because 50% of the victims failed to report such experience, 40% reported such cases to family members and friends, while relatively few (10%) went to the police for an official complaint. In Africa, the narrative of violence against women is in a different dimension. For example, half of the countries where women and girls between the ages of 15–49 have been subject to female genital mutilation are in Africa, specifically West Africa (Shakirat et al., 2020). Similarly, subSaharan Africa is ranked high for child marriage; an estimate more than one in three women between the ages of 20–24 were married off before their 18th birthday (Usigbe, 2019). The resultant effect of child marriage is unlimited, with outcomes such as social isolation, early pregnancy, and heightened vulnerability to domestic violence. North and Middle East Africa have disheartening records of the violation and abuse of women too. It is reported that between 40 and 60% of women in the Middle East and North Africa have an experience of street-based sexual harassment such as stalking and sexual comments (Amnesty International, 2021). These statistics are more worrying as 31–64% of men affirm that they have carried out such acts in the region. In East and Southern Africa, sexual violence against girls and women is highly recorded (Parry & Gordon, 2020), and 20% of girls and women within the ages of 15–24 have experienced violence from an intimate partner, while there are high records of sexual violence against adolescents 15 years and below in areas experiencing conflicts and nations with post-conflict experiences—Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda (Truscott, 2020; UN Population Fund, 2019). It is argued that harmful gender norms, a heightened level of poverty, alcohol use, and violence in urban slums are push factors for the occurrence of violence against women. Usigbe (2019) asserts that the most common form of abuse in Africa’s most populous nation—Nigeria, is physical violence, emotional violence, psychological violence, sexual harassment, harmful traditional practices,

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socio-economic violence, and violence against non-combatant women in conflict situations. Usigbe further reported that 28% of Women in Nigeria between the ages of 25–29 had experienced physical violence since the age of 15, while marital status informs the vulnerability of women to violence. Forty-four percent of women who either divorced, separated, or are widowed have experienced violence since they were 15. Twenty-five percent who are married have experienced violence, too (Usigbe, 2019). These realities have been counted as normal in Africa, especially in social settings where there are cultural beliefs that women are properties that belong to the man. Despite the obnoxious situations of African women on gender-based violence, there are different steps and actions from government, individuals, and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) towards eliminating the occurrence of gender-based violence on the continent. However, whatever progress the continent might have recorded in the previous years has been totally jeopardised as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sexual assaults, violence, and femicide increased exponentially during the lockdown, creating a social shadow pandemic from the already devastating Covid-19 (Fröhlich, 2020; UN Women, 2020a). The rate of genderbased violence is evidence that much needs to be done in Africa towards achieving SDGs 5, target 2—“eliminating all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation” (John et al., 2021). Understanding the nature and current realities of the Covid-19 in relation to gender-based violence is crucial to repositioning Africa towards achieving the SDGs.

Gender-Based Violence and Covid-19 Pandemic in Africa From the global North down to the global South, an increasing rate of gender-based violence was reported during the Covid-19 lockdown (Al-Ali, 2020; Peterman et al., 2020). This makes it imperative to relay the Africans experience from the spectrum of her sub-regions by United Nations; North Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, and Southern Africa. Ellis (2020) opines that GBV is a second pandemic as there were reports of females killed, and gender-based violence was rampant in South Africa, with an average of one woman’s death every 3 h.

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With this flow of occurrence, it is not out of place to claim GBV is another pandemic that needs corresponding attention received by Covid-19. Prior to 2018, there exist numerous policies, acts, and interventions to achieve gender parity in South Africa, but their collective effects are not felt in the day-to-day dealings of both genders. This has necessitated local groups of both gender staging protests against the experience of violence by women. The outcome of this protest resulted in the formation of an Interim Steering Committee on GBV and Femicide (ISC-GBVF) 2020, which ensured the development of an Emergency Response Action Plan (ERAP) within the space of six months using R.1.6billion as running cost from the budget. GBV increased in Africa during the Covid-19 lockdown and left so many women devastated. AUC, UN Women, OHCHR, and UNFPA (2020) offer that Covid-19 increased domestic violence experienced by women in Sahelian countries in Africa from 41 to 52%. Also, countries such as Mali (10%), Senegal (14%), and Chad (30%) recorded such an increase in the numbers of domestic violence cases. Emerging data from the AUC, UN Women, OHCHR, and UNFPA (2020) report provides a region by region analysis of the situation of GBV in Africa and how vulnerable women and girls with disabilities, pregnancy, and unemployed status have become exposed to violence as a result of the pandemic. According to the United Nations (2020), the compounded effects of Covid-19 on women and girls widened the existing poverty gap since the women earned less, and saved less in their unsecured jobs. In East Africa, there has been a 48% increase in the rate of GBV reported through the police call lines. Countries from this region, such as Kenya, having an estimated 35% increase in sexual violence, such as rape and defilement. Azene et al. (2019) study in Ethiopia revealed that 41% of women confirmed their experience of intimate partner violence during pregnancy. In Central Africa countries such as Cameroon Chad, Sudan, and South Sudan, an increase in the rate of GBV was reported too. Cameroon, for instance, had both men and women report cases of GBV 35 and 36%, respectively, while the Central African Republic reported an increase of 69% in injuries from women and children, 27% in rape, while assaults increased by 45%. In Northern Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya had reported cases of GBV. For instance, Algeria had an increase in the rate and occurrence of femicide as killing a woman on account of gender by a male

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occurs every three to four days. Egypt recorded a 19% increase in violence against family while 11% of girls between the ages of 4–14 had experienced violence within a week in April. Tunisia experienced an exponential increase of 87% in the report of violence against women. The reported cases had an experience of physical violence against women and girls. In Libya, half of the women surveyed in the report had experienced GBV. In South Africa, from the Southern Region of the continent—the report has it that South Africa recorded a 37% increase in the number of GBV during the lockdown, which was a far cry from their 2019 report. The country had over 10,660 phone calls report of GBV, 1503 through USSD, while 616 was through SMS. In the Western part of Africa, Liberia and Nigeria were notable on the report as Liberia had about a 50% increase in GBV between January and June in 2020, with more than 600 reported cases of rape. In Nigeria, there was a 56% increase in the number of reported cases of GBV in the first two weeks of the Lockdown in April. While the nation’s commercial city, Lagos, had 100% increase in the number of GBV during the lockdown. Studies of Caroline-Young & Aref-Adib (2020) on the shadow pandemic during Covid-19 revealed that Nigeria has been in crisis, with 30% of women and girls within ages of 15 and 49 years experienced sexual abuse. During the lockdown between March and April 2020 in major cities in Nigeria—Lagos, Ogun, and Federal Capital Territory, it was revealed that people living in Lagos who experienced total lockdown had reported 40 to 180 women violently abused. Several research have captured the rationale behind increasing rates of gender-based violence, and Okur (2016) offers that the breakdown of the law during the crisis period is a significant determinant of increasing gender-based violence in Africa. This was stressed since the victims received little or no attention and support in terms of essential services during the crisis period while the perpetrators were not brought to book accordingly. Women’s economic vulnerabilities and their continued co-existence with their abusers at home were found to correlate with increasing gender-based violence during the Covid-19 outbreak (UN Women, 2020a). Other scholars referenced the issue of existing gender inequality, cultural affirmations, African male hegemony, and the African cultural settings (UNDP, 2020) as justifications for increasing gender-based violence in Africa. The lockdown in Africa, which was necessitated by the continuous increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and as a measure to curtail the

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spread of the virus proved to be another form of pandemic for women and girls as it provided the opportunity for them to be severely abused by their intimate partner, relatives, or family members. It is evident that women and girls are the most vulnerable during a crisis and pandemic, such as this (Arendt, 2020). It is, therefore, crucial that we begin to put forth measures to curb and protect women and girls during a pandemic. They are the most vulnerable and, if not protected, especially in Africa’s developing nations where achieving the SDGs 5 is still a herculean task, gender equality might just be far from coming to an end. Therefore, a gendered solution to a pandemic is a must for the nation’s government and international organisation.

Responding to Gender-Based Violence During a Pandemic The global health crisis affected all institutions and stakeholders, but the pandemic also provided the needed platform to unveil and attend to the previously ignored social milieu women and girls go through during a crisis. The vulnerability of women to various acts of violence such as sexual, physical, psychological, and emotional has been largely ignored in national policy frameworks. Despite the efforts of international organisations such as the United Nations with the SDGs 2030, an unplanned and unanticipated crisis such as Covid-19 can be disruptive to the sustainable development goals. However, it can also be a tool to strategise and drive the achievement of SDGs by 2030—especially in matters related to gender equality. In Africa, prior to the pandemic, governments of nations were making efforts to attain gender parity in all aspects of socio-economic life, yet the expected results are not forthcoming. The pandemic has shown that the continent still has many structural and institutional frameworks that must be put in place to achieve the ultimate goal of a society where women’s human rights are protected. Some of the following frameworks that need to be put in place to protect women during a pandemic are: Implement a Gendered Policy for a Time of Crisis and Pandemic The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the gap in legislative provisions in Africa for women and girls during a pandemic. Government of nations in Africa must have a domesticated gendered policy framework that addresses the peculiarities of their nation as it relates to women and

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violence (UN Women, 2020a). Crisis such as pandemics affect nations differently because of their varying resilient structures, geographical dynamics, and resources that might have been built over time. In fact, an assurance of victim’s safety after reporting their abusive partner must be a crucial consideration for the government, women rights organisations, and other stakeholders attending to GBV issues. By making and implementing such policies, it will be easy for victims of GBV to report cases to appropriate bodies before it gets out of hand. Hence, this will change the wrong values placed on the appropriateness of African women reporting their abusers without being criticised by their society. Educate Women and Girls Education programmes, awareness, and orientation, must be embedded in the social orientation programmes in the African nations. Women and girls should be aware and orientated on what to do and who to communicate to when they find themselves with an abusive partner or relations in a time of crisis. The UN Women (March 2021) report observed that so many women and girls do not have the needed information on managing a violent situation or communicating immediately. With the right orientation and awareness, women should be given the needed awareness to handle matters of violence in a crisis period. Education does not end with women alone; neighbours and family members too must be aware of what should be done when they are aware of cases of violence experienced by women around them. It is important that women, their neighbours and family members do not keep quiet on matters like this, which is why proper awareness campaigns and programmes are needed. Provide Easy and Accessible Communication Platforms for Reporting of Cases The government must provide easy and accessible communication platforms to ease the process of reporting cases (UN Women, 2020b). The opportunities in technology and online platforms must be judiciously utilised to allow victims to communicate to the appropriate authorities. Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp platforms should be utilised in time of crisis when movements are restricted and physical social interactions seem impossible. Communicating a violent

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situation is important to put an end to the occurrence of violence in during a pandemic, and emergency communication lines will have positive effect. Strengthen the Access to Justice Strengthening the judicial process and systems to provide for the quick prosecution of offenders without delay is crucial to reducing the occurrence of GBV in a time of crisis/pandemic. When men are aware that violence against women will be heavily punished by the judicial system if found guilty, there is a likelihood that such violence will reduce. Laws and policies that provide for the punishment of offenders and also equip the judicial system in the apportioning of judgement will serve as a determent to potential offenders. Above all, the judicial system must be given the capacity to quickly arraign offenders in the law court for proper punishment if found guilty. Include Emergency Plans for the Protection of Women and Girls During a Crisis The policy framework must recognise and make provisions for the protection of women and girls in a crisis situation. Provisions such as shelter, psychological, and emotional support systems should be made available for victims. Emotional support systems are crucial to guiding individuals through challenging periods and restore them into society. Government should provide fiscal support such that they can be sustained during the pandemic due to the disruption with their economic activities. An emergency plan for women and girls has to be top of the agenda when making plans for pandemic and crisis recovery in Africa.

Recommendation for Recovery and Achievement of the SDGs 5; Target 2 Covid-19 pandemic has brought to light issues in social relationships between men and women which have been largely ignored in countries of the world. Though, the UN through its SDGs1 2030 has made provisions for the protection of women and girls among member nations, which

1 https://sdgs.un.org/goals.

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has been strongly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic2 It is crucial that governments make appropriate plans for the recovery of the success hitherto achieved towards the SDGs 5; target 2. A recent UN report has shown that the gap between poor and rich nations towards the achievement of the SDGs will be further widened in the years to come; however, this trajectory can be changed through intervention policies.3 Some of the actions that the government of nations can take towards recovery and sustenance of the progress hitherto made towards gender equality are first; make policies that will be directed towards the protection of women in rural and urban areas with associated punishment that is strictly adhered to when offenders are caught. Laws must be implemented, and local government authorities should be empowered to monitor and implement policies targeted at reducing the occurrence of GBV in African nations. The policy must clearly define what acts of violence are against women and what punishment will be given to offenders. African nations must also have a gendered crisis policy framework that is country-specific and appeals to their crisis dynamics in different nations of the world. In setting up a committee for the development of laws and policies for the protection of women and recovery during a crisis, women must be part of the decision-making team. Only a woman can better understand the conditions and needs of another woman during a crisis, which will help make appropriate and profound decisions towards protection and recovery. Women leaders must be integral parts of emergency response plans, policy, and frameworks. Secondly, women who have experienced GBV during the lockdown should be encouraged to speak out while their abusers are punished accordingly. Taking this path will position the government in African nations as serious on matters of GBV. Toll-free lines should be provided 24/7 for victims to call and make their case known without fear. Also, victims of GBV should be provided with social, psychological, and fiscal support to restore their emotional and psychological states because of the trauma they might have experienced. Financial supports should be given to ameliorate the pressures of the financial strain of the pandemic while social programmes where women can meet and share their experiences are provided. Women should also be educated on their human rights so they

2 https://unric.org/en/sdg-5/. 3 https://sdgintegration.undp.org/COVID-impact-low-and-medium-hdi-groups.

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would not be alienated under cultural ideologies. Such education should be centred on their rights and what to do in time of crisis. Third, the judicial system must be strengthened such that any form of bias or unfair practice will not be associated with the process of prosecuting offenders. The judicial process must be fast and not delayed, so that prosecuted offenders who are found guilty can serve as deterrence for those who have such heinous intentions. The judiciary system must also put in place rehabilitating mechanism for prosecuted offenders so they can be reformed through the judicial process when they leave their custody. Law enforcement agencies have a role to play by ensuring they uphold ethical practices in carrying out arrest and detention of offenders before they are found guilty and after being found guilty. The police are gatekeepers in the Criminal Justice Corridor (CJS), they must ensure that perpetrators of GBV do not walk free because of unethical practices carried out by the officers. Fourth, government must strengthen women’s economic activities towards sustaining their means of livelihood. Providing a means of livelihood for women reduces the economic burden on their spouse and helps them contribute significantly to the socio-economic needs of the family. When women are strengthened economically through entrepreneurial action plans and empowerment programmes, they can take care of their major needs and also contribute significantly to the economic process. Strengthening the economic positions of women after a crisis/pandemic can be done through the provision of loans at low or no interest rate. Financial supports can also be given to women. Strengthening women economically is a crucial part of recovery, which government of African nations must strategically adopt. Fifth, government must invest in research and data to make informed gender decision. This can be done with private research organisations to carry out studies on gender and ensure they are aware of the current situation on GBV. The research should not necessarily be on how GBV can be managed alone, but how women can have equal opportunities as their male counterparts. Making decisions on past information will not yield the expected outcomes and will not also attend to the current realities. Research will provide data that will help to make informed decisions. Sixth, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) must also contribute to the recovery process to advocate against socio-cultural ideologies that see women as properties of men. This has been found to be a major problem in Africa as men are groomed to see women as objects for use

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and misuse. Awareness programmes, campaigns, and seminars on this ideology will help change the orientation of young ones towards how women should be treated.

Conclusion Gender-based violence has been a social menace around the world, with more repelling effect in Africa. The socio-cultural ideology in Africa promotes the ideology of ownership of women by men; a scenario that has engendered violence against women. This reality has motivated international organisations such as the United Nations to put in place policies such as the SDGs 5; targets 2 to promote and protect women against violence. Despite the little progress made in Africa on awareness of the human rights of women, and girls, they still suffer most in a time of crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic intensified the rate of GBV in Africa, with records showing multiple percentages of GBV reports across the continent. This unexpected crisis has social, economic and gender implications on Africa, which can retrogress its achievement of the SDGs as we near the year 2030. The government of nations in Africa must, therefore, make informed policies that protect women during a crisis, educate women through awareness programmes and campaigns, provide social, psychological and financial support to women who are victims of abuse during the Covid-19 lockdown, strengthen women economically, empower judicial systems and local representatives—these will serve as an intervention towards recovery and achievement of the SDGs 5, Target 2 in Africa.

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Mahtani, S. (2020). What must governments do to reduce genderbased violence during the COVID-19 pandemic? https://www. africaportal.org/features/what-must-governments-do-reduce-genderbased-violence-during-pandemic/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_cam paign=ed18de24b2EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_06_29_10_06&utm_me dium=email&utm_term=0_e49f63ec5f-ed18de24b2-111385215 Mittal, S., & Singh, T. (2020). Gender-based violence during COVID-19 pandemic: A mini-review. Frontiers in Global Women’s Health. https://doi. org/10.3389/fgwh.2020.00004 Obileye, A. A., & Enapeh, O. (2020). Is violence against women systemic in Africa? An enquiry to change the status quo. In O. Adeola (Eds.), Empowering African women for sustainable development. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-3-030-59102-1_5 O’Brien, M., & Tolosa, M. X. (2016). The effect of the 2014 West Africa Ebola virus disease epidemic on multi-level violence against women. International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, 9(3), 151–160. https://doi.org/10. 1108/ijhrh-09-2015-0027 Onyango, M. A., Resnick, K., Davis, A., & Shah, R. R. (2019). Gender-based violence among adolescent girls and young women: A neglected consequence of the West African Ebola outbreak. Pregnant in the Time of Ebola, 121– 132.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97637-2_8 Okur, P. (2016). Sexual and reproductive health and rights of people on the move. Bulletin of the Netherlands Society for Tropical Medicine and International Health, 54, 8–9. https://www.rutgers.nl/sites/rutgersnl/files/PDF/ nvtg_mt_2016–8–9.pdf Peake, L., & Nyasimi, M. (2015). Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. ISSC Review of Targets for the Sustainable Development Goals: The Science Perspective Affiliation: International Council for Science (pp 31–34). Peterman, A., Potts, A., & O’Donnell, M. (2020). Pandemics and violence against women and girls (p. 528). Center for Global Development. Parry, B. R., & Gordon, E. (2020). The shadow pandemic: Inequitable gendered impacts of COVID-19 in South Africa. Gender, Work & Organisation, 28(2), 795–806. Ren, X. (2020). Pandemic and lockdown: A territorial approach to COVID-19 in China, Italy and the United States. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 61(4–5), 423–434. Shakirat, G. O., Alshibshoubi, M. A., Delia, E., Hamayon, A., & Rutkofsky, I. H. (2020). An overview of female genital mutilation in Africa: Are the women beneficiaries or victims. Cureus, 12(9), 1–16. Thurston, A. M., Stöckl, H., & Ranganathan, M. (2021). Natural hazards, disasters and violence against women and girls: A global mixed-methods systematic

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CHAPTER 5

African Women’s Health and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Implications for Policy and Development Utibe Effiong, Uju E. Okeke, and Fejiro Nwoko

Introduction According to the Institute for Womens Health, women’s health has become a global priority. It is at the centre of global attention with massive political support. However, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, several aspects of African women’s health remained insufficiently tackled

U. Effiong (B) Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA e-mail: [email protected] U. E. Okeke Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA e-mail: [email protected] F. Nwoko Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund, Lagos, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_5

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to meet targets as stipulated by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This chapter reviews the status of women’s health in Africa before the pandemic. It also examines the impacts of the pandemic on women’s health and consequently on development in Africa. We conclude with a discussion of health and development policy direction in light of the pandemic and also the implications for sustainable development.

Women’s Health in Africa Before the Covid-19 Pandemic In 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) likened the attainment of women’s health as a barometer of progress in society as transformations reflect development processes in the everyday lives of people and communities. According to Izugbara and Covan (2014), achievement of SDGs that concern women have seen the most setbacks in Africa. The reversal of gains seen with women’s health in recent decades as continued basic and essential health services remain unavailable (Izugbara & Covan, 2014). Many African women live below the poverty line. Most lack access to essential healthcare services, making them vulnerable to poor sexual and reproductive health outcomes, including risks with unsafe abortions, maternal morbidity, and mortality (Izugbara et al., 2013). Furthermore, Izugbara et al. (2013) note that to assert themselves, African men resort to sexism, sadism, and sexual aggression towards women when they fail to attain set manhood markers. The imbalance of power between Africa and well-developed countries inadvertently promotes policies that further advance women’s marginalisation, thereby weakening health systems. Due to the inability of African leaders to comprehend the realities of health challenges of citizens, constant setbacks frustrate actions that target crucial areas of women’s health. Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) aims to promote good health and well-being for all. The termination of unsafe pregnancies is a crucial issue to be considered to ensure healthy lives under this goal. Primarily, this goal calls attention to actions to reduce maternal mortality and improve reproductive health outcomes. A woman’s ability to make decisions about her reproductive health allows her to pursue a safe and satisfactory sexual life, conceive with the option of when and how often

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she chooses (Reproductive health, 2018). Reproductive Health (2018) notes that omen capable of making reproductive health decisions are more likely to terminate pregnancies. Other factors such as age, education attainment, place of residence, contraception use are associated with the decision (Seidu et al., 2020). Globally, pregnancy and childbirthrelated causes account for 830 maternal deaths annually, with Low- and Middle-Income countries accounting for 9% of such deaths (Yogi et al., 2018). Pregnancy termination is at the forefront of issues to be addressed to achieve SDG 3 by 2030. Unsafe pregnancy termination practices remain a global health challenge in Africa, where over 4 million unsafe terminations of pregnancies are carried out yearly. This trend is highest among poor, rural, and young women lacking access and information on safer alternatives. Women of reproductive age should have unequivocal rights to decision-making and access to sexual and reproductive health services. Still, in sub-Saharan Africa, they are faced with limitations due to cultural and socio-economic factors (UN, 2016). UNAIDS (2016) shows that in eastern and southern Africa, HIV/AIDS continues to be the leading cause of death, with estimates of approximately 290,000 new HIV infections. Two-thirds occurred among adolescent girls and young women (UNAIDS, 2016). Gender inequality, out-of-school status, and poverty subvert HIV prevention strategies among teenage girls and young women (Butts et al., 2017). Challenges such as the potential for stigmatisation and discrimination deter community HIV screening programmes to determine the vulnerability of adolescents and young women. Simultaneously, sexual practices, behaviours, and partners’ relationship criterion identify the most at risk (Dunbar et al., 2018). Research in Malawi showed that adolescents, girls, and young women (AGYW) in higher socio-economic households or communities are more likely to be infected with HIV because of proximity to urbanisation and mobile populations (Mensch & Soler-Hampejsek, 2017). Furthermore, inequitable gender norms and beliefs are highly associated with risky sexual behaviours, which correlate with an increased probability of HIV infections (Wesson et al., 2019). HIV vulnerability was highest in out-of-school AGYW and associated with adverse health outcomes and experiences; therefore, community-based HIV prevention programmes should be tailored appropriately (Mathur et al., 2020). Women in Africa experience a heavy burden of cervical cancer because of insufficient vaccination, screening, and treatment efforts. Cervical

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cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide. A disproportionate number of cases and deaths are in Africa among women in the low and middle-income classes (Ferlay et al., 2015). Inadequate cervical cancer screening in low- and middle-income countries is a significant contributor to preventable cervical cancer deaths. According to Bruni et al. (2017), more than 250,000 women die from cervical cancer globally, but population-level screening programmes have significantly reduced morbidity and mortality in high-income countries. Substandard cervical screening programmes contribute to over 4000 cervical cancer deaths each year in South Africa, making it the leading cause of cancerrelated deaths among women of reproductive age (Bruni et al., 2017). A study in South Africa compared the probability of abnormal pathology following colposcopy after a detected cervical pathology on Papanicolaou screening. It was determined that HIV-positive women had an increased risk than HIV-negative women (Davies et al., 2019). There is a need to incorporate cervical screening into safer conception practices. This is associated with increased uptake and broader coverage because despite accessing routine HIV services, most women had not had cervical cancer screening (David et al., 2019). A reduction in the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030 is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will only be achieved if major contributory factors are addressed. Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) contributes to 115,000 maternal deaths a year (WHO, 2015), with low- and middleincome countries (LMIC) accounting for approximately 99%. PPH is a life-threatening condition resulting in long-lasting adverse health effects, including severe anemia, death following complications. The most common cause of PPH is uterine atony, which requires surgical intervention as a last resort if a globally recommended well-defined approach fails. Nevertheless, a woman is at greater risk of dying if bleeding persists because obstetric surgical facilities and emergency transportation are inadequate in low- and middle-income countries (Walraven et al., 2008). In 2012, World Health Organization (WHO) recommended uterine balloon tamponade (UBT). UBT is a non-surgical intervention inserted into the uterus, filled with water, and acts as an effective tamponade to stop bleeding. UBT has been successful in 85% to 95% of PPH unresponsive to medical management. Also, they have been determined to be safe and effective. However, due to costs, these devices are underutilised

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and unavailable, especially in LMIC, where price ranges from $US125 to $US350 (Martin et al., 2015). African countries have demonstrated commitment to achieving universal health coverage, among other Sustainable Development Goals, by implementing strategies to enhance access and coverage of healthcare services with low access. However, an adequate financing system is necessary to achieve universal healthcare. World Health Organization (2017) indicates that despite strides in reproductive and maternal outcomes, which showed a recorded decline in maternal mortality across the African continent, there are still inequities and disparities in access to standard care. This is primarily due to the unequal distribution of initiatives, leading to significant setbacks (World Health Organization, 2017). In Africa, only about 43% of pregnant women attend four (4) recommended prenatal visits. In comparison, skilled health personnel attended 49% of live births, and the postnatal care rate is 53% in sub-Saharan Africa compared to 86% for North Africa (Boerma et al., 2018). Direct payments to healthcare professionals for health services made it difficult for the poor and women to access care, thereby subjecting LMICs to extreme poverty. A significant priority for African countries is to achieve universal health coverage is central to achieving SDG 3.8, which targets to achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential healthcare services and access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all. To this end, WHO recommends a prepayment for health services to ensure reduced out-of-pocket fees (Union, 2014).

Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Women’s Health in Africa According to World Health Organization (2018) the Covid-19 pandemic has left in its wake a myriad of health challenges, especially in developing countries already plagued with seemingly insurmountable difficulties of healthcare services delivery. Of interest is the continent of Africa, with existing weak healthcare systems where the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic will have far-reaching consequences in the years to come. Resources such as people, efforts, and medical supplies are being dedicated to emergency response, thereby neglecting basic and regular essential health services needed by people with conditions unrelated to the pandemic (World Health Organization, 2018).

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Semo and Frissa (2020) note that there is the possibility of new cases of mental illness among African women with worsening of symptoms in patients with pre-existing mental disorders following the breakdown of social support and loss of economic standing. Semo and Frissa (2020) also assert that mental health has become a top point of focus due to disease experience, mandated physical distancing, stigmatisation, and discrimination. Simultaneously, anxiety, depression, and poor sleep patterns are noted squeal from the Covid-19 pandemic (Semo & Frissa, 2020). Generally, mental health services are scarce, hence the reliance on social resources, including mental health education, screening, and counselling services, to improve care. Also, increased symptoms of anxiety and obsessive–compulsive behaviours have been found to increase in pregnant women (Yassa et al., 2020). The imposed lockdown led to reduced and, often, absent care for sick relatives by families and the inability of families to observe and perform customary rituals for dead loved ones (Ugwu & Nwankwo, 2020). Additionally, great fear, anxiety, and associated fear-induced behaviours during the pandemic undermined preventive and curative measures leading to a crisis. The restrictions on physical interactions inadvertently led to reduced access to social structures, supply of food, medications, and treatment for chronic conditions. In most sub-Saharan African communities, the care of the elderly is the responsibility of the family. Therefore, physical distancing regulations can be a source of loneliness. Furthermore, mental healthcare services are provided mainly through community and village health workers. Unfortunately, government regulatory ban on mass gatherings, physical distancing measures will hinder training workshops. Roberton et al. (2020) projected that the Covid-19 pandemic would affect both the provision and utilisation of reproductive and maternal health services by an invariable increase in maternal mortality. Lowand middle-income countries (LMICs) with persisting increased maternal mortality could lose hard-won gains if maternal and reproductive services are ignored. Therefore, the indirect effects of the pandemic on maternal health should be quantified to guide decision-makers while considering the response to the pandemic. Roberton et al. (2020) also predicted that reductions in the healthcare workforce and access to routine health services would increase the number of people seeking care for interventions or services not assumed necessary, such as antenatal, postnatal, and reproductive care. Secondly, decreased access to healthcare workers will

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have more significant consequences on interventions that require skilled care; antenatal, childbirth, and therapeutic services. In LMICs, it is estimated that 9.8–18.5% reductions in health coverage for six months would result in 12,200 maternal deaths (Roberton et al., 2020). To date, relatively few cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in subSaharan African (SSA) countries. However, SSA is significantly impacted by Covid-19 because of poor health service delivery infrastructure, low physician-population ratio, and inadequate laboratory expertise and staffing. (El-Sadr & Justman, 2020). Most countries in SSA have a higher rate of underlying chronic medical conditions, including HIV/AIDS, malnutrition, and chronic respiratory diseases (Baker et al., 2020). These peculiarities increase the population’s dependence on health service access, which is critical for reducing poor antenatal and birthing outcomes (Bell et al., 2020). Before the pandemic, maternal healthcare services were inadequate, out of reach, or too expensive for most women. Presently, measures imposed by the government will threaten existing limited access to care and adversely affect women’s health (Stein, Ward, & Cantelmo, 2020). In Ethiopia, a study to determine antenatal care service utilisation and disruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic showed that 55.5% of women either missed or presented late to the facility. Of these, 5.9% reported that their healthcare providers were reassigned to Covid-19 emergency services, while 56.48% stated fear of the infection as the reason, and the remaining 33.3% reported interruption of maternal services. Mandatory stay-at-home orders prevented 17% from accessing maternal services, and 7.2% attributed missed antenatal care to costly transportation during the lockdown (Tadesse, 2020). Generally, antenatal services are significantly impacted by the closure of logistics-related workplaces, interruption or reduction of public transportation services, and failure to attend clinic appointments due to public perception of increased infection of Covid-19 in and near health facilities (Chen et al., 2020). Following mandatory lockdown in various countries, health-seeking behaviours were influenced as expected. In Uganda, the first two weeks of April recorded a 75% decline in new HIV cases, but the initiation of isoniazid-preventive therapy to prevent secondary tuberculosis reduced by 75%. (Bell et al., 2020). Additionally, a 29% reduction was seen with deliveries taking place in healthcare facilities compared to January 2020, with an 82% increase in maternal mortality recorded in the same period.

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The Covid-19 outbreak disrupted family planning programmes declining by 65% in Liberia and 23% in Sierra Leone. This is predicted to continue for months with prolonged disruption in healthcare services. As resources are being diverted to acquire masks, personal protective equipment, ventilators, and erecting field hospitals, the provision of urgent care services took over the resources that were otherwise used for routine care (Ferreira-Filho et al., 2020). At the same time, sexual and reproductive health has been posited as non-essential by governments hence posing a significant challenge to women of reproductive age and healthcare providers (Ferreira-Filho et al., 2020). Physical distancing, isolation, and working from home increase the time couples spend together, increasing the frequency of sexual intercourse. Therefore, restrictions imposed by the government limiting access to contraceptive supplies and services will lead to unplanned pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and resultant mortality (Short et al., 2020). An unplanned pregnancy results from non-use, discontinuation, failure, inconsistent and incorrect use of contraception (Bellizzi et al., 2020). Women vulnerable to unplanned pregnancies include women with low socio-economic status, low educational attainment, those living in rural areas, and women living with HIV/AIDS (Sorpreso et al., 2015). The foregoing indicates how the Covid-19 pandemic increased this vulnerability among groups of African women. Therefore, sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) should be treated as a public health priority by creating links between Covid-19 and SRH services to provide universal health coverage to pregnant women, adolescent girls, and minority groups. (Hall et al., 2020). Otherwise, tragic outcomes await women and their families if SRH services are deemed non-essential or decreased during a global pandemic. Factors that increase the risk for poor maternal outcomes are delays in seeking care, reaching healthcare services, and receiving recommended care at the health facility (Calvello et al., 2015). Osanan et al. (2020) note that these delays are magnified during the Covid-19 pandemic— increasing maternal mortality risk because pregnant women shied away from healthcare centres for fear of getting infected, limited financial ability, and restrictions on transportation services. Pregnant women under quarantine because of a positive Covid-19 result do not access antenatal services and decreased healthcare providers due to redistribution of workforce related to the pandemic (Osanan et al., 2020). During an epidemic crisis, lack of obstetric services increased maternal mortality by

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34% because of attendant reduction in women attending antenatal care and the number of women delivered in a healthcare facility (Jones et al., 2016). Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in pregnant and postpartum women is an effective intervention for preventing maternal-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS during pregnancy and postpartum. The effect of Covid19 lockdown was evaluated in South Africa and determined that women who missed their one-month PrEP visit increased to 63% compared to 29% before the lockdown. In comparison, approximately 55% missed the 3-month visit as opposed to 41% before the lockdown. The visits are scheduled simultaneously as antenatal or postnatal care, and missed visits have dire consequences for maternal and child health (Davey et al., 2020a). Provision of PrEP in pregnancy will significantly reduce by 41% an estimated 76,000 new cases of vertical HIV infection projected to be diagnosed in the next ten years. (Davey et al., 2019). This is applicable if 80% of pregnant women receive PrEP. However, the Covid-19 pandemic will delay the study results that will revolutionise guidelines for PrEP pregnancy programmes. Increased intimate partner violence, rape, and new HIV infections are the aftermath of compulsory national lockdowns in Africa and around the world (Bayu & Gondar, 2020; Ndhlovu & Tembo, 2020). Unfortunately, pregnant and breastfeeding women are now faced with an increased risk of contracting HIV. In a society where sex without condoms is high, and women are powerless to negotiate its use, there is rising sexual exposure and exploitation. (Davey et al., 2018, 2020). Covid-19 pandemic has led to the disruption of care in the management of breast cancer, the most common malignancy among women worldwide. The associated ramifications of Covid-19 on healthcare are more pronounced in low-income and middle-income countries as their governments make priority healthcare decisions based on the limited budgets (Al-Sukhun et al., 2017). Already, cancer patients are inundated with challenges such as structural, sociocultural, personal, and financial factors that alter the care they receive. The challenges are more increased with the pandemic (Kugbey et al., 2020). Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women, with an estimated > 2 million new cases and >626,000 deaths in 2018 (Arbyn et al., 2020). Due to Covid-19, patients have experienced significant delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment,

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while others have resorted to alternative treatments contrary to standardised guidelines. Low-income and middle-income countries record an estimated 1 million new cases/year of breast cancer and have a worse survival rate due to late presentation and limited resources (Anderson, 2014).

Implications for African Development and Policy As a result of the disruption in the provision of reproductive health services for women during the Covid-19 pandemic, overall development in communities, nations, and the global stage will be affected. Women are at the centre of development in Africa today. The African woman not only takes the lead in economic and health development in the home, but she also adds a significant percentage of a nation’s economic growth in development (Mehra, 1997). Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours (Davidson et al., 2011). In many African countries, 60–80% of farmers are women, and 45% of teachers are women (Palacios-Lopez et al., 2017). Globally, 75% of healthcare workers are females, and over 90% are nurses and midwives. This signifies that women’s health and well-being, specifically women in Africa, must be maintained even during crises. The implications as they relate to SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 4 (Quality Education), and SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) are discussed below.

Implications for Agriculture---SDG 2 in Africa Agriculture is central to development in low- and middle-income countries like Nigeria and most African countries. In the developing world, women in rural communities contribute a considerate share to the labour in the agriculture sector (Chiong-Javier, 2009). Chiong-Javier (2009) notes that women have long occupied a central place in agricultural production in developing countries, ensuring food security for their households and communities. Unfortunately, the importance of the role of women has received global acknowledgement and support only within the last 35 years. The relationship between women’s reproductive health and agricultural development can be viewed in two ways: how agricultural development affects women’s health and how women’s health affects agricultural

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development. Both involve the overall development of a people and the country at large. Women’s health may be at risk on the farm when they render time-consuming and heavy work under deprived economic and technological conditions in developing economies. According to Chiong-Javier (2009), numerous studies have invariably pointed to one work situation—women’s use and subsequent exposure to pesticides and other hazardous substances—as the predominant cause. Thus, while all agricultural workers are equally at risk from prolonged pesticide use and exposure, women face “gender-specific” reproductive health risks. Persistent organic pollutants accumulate in fatty tissues of living organisms, making women more biologically prone to their toxic effects because women possess more fatty tissues than men are (Chiong-Javier, 2009). Chiong-Javier (2009) also notes that 102 studies done in the west have found that toxins stored in women’s bodies increasingly predispose them to various reproductive health disorders and malignancies, including hormonal disruptions or interferences in the estrogen level that alter the normal menstrual cycle, pregnancy complications, miscarriages, stillbirths, congenital anomalies, delayed pregnancy, reduced ability to breastfeed, endometriosis, and cancer of the breasts and ovaries. Moreover, pesticide residues are passed on by mothers to babies through breastmilk (Chiong-Javier, 2009). According to Ransom (2002) studies have reported 4–12 times higher than the acceptable levels of DDT metabolites called DDE in breastfeeding infants in developing countries like Brazil, Zimbabwe, and China. Female workers who are hands-on with pesticides even while pregnant or breastfeeding, such as the banana and pineapple plantation workers in the Philippines, are among the most significant risks (Tanzo & Sachs, 2004). Health prevention and treatment of farm-related illness could be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic when there is reduced access to healthcare services, causing women to experience prolonged illness with the likelihood of more severe complications (World Health Organization, 2020). Consequently, women’s health affects productivity on the farm. Studies have shown that work hours lost from women due to illness such as unwanted pregnancy, anaemia, and malnutrition lead to poor productivity on the farm (Elder & Ransom, 2003). Without ready access to reproductive health services for women, these women are more likely to have prolonged illnesses that would have otherwise received early intervention (Zhou et al., 2019).

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Implications for Education---SDG 4 in Africa Education has become a key strategy in development globally and even more in developing countries. It is a determinant of a nation’s growth and well-being (Ng, 2003). Women also play a vital role in this sector, so their health and overall well-being affect the sector’s development. Women have long dominated the teaching of young children. According to Drury (2008), this global phenomenon is firmly rooted in economic development, urbanisation, the position of women in society, cultural definitions of masculinity, and the value of children and childcare. Female teachers are predominately seen in the early years of education; female teachers are fewer in later years of teaching, such as secondary and tertiary schools. One significant way female teachers make a difference for girls is to act as role models (Haugen et al., 2017). Rihani (2006) notes that one of the factors that prevent females from going to school is that girls face inequities in the classroom and often lack female teachers as role models. Therefore, ensuring women are healthy has a ripple effect on education.

Implications for the Healthcare Sector---SDG 3 in Africa Although the Covid-19 pandemic has caused direct increases to mortality due to complications from infections, it is also increasing mortality indirectly. Reductions in access to and use of essential maternal and child health services during epidemics translate into increases in the number of women and newborns who suffer complications or die during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period (World Health Organization—Regional Office for Europe, 2020). The current WHO guidance recommends a minimum of eight antenatal contacts for low-risk women. Evidence suggests that attendance at five visits or fewer is associated with an increased risk of perinatal mortality. There is no good evidence to this minimal antenatal care with remote assessment. The WHO guidelines for the operation of immunisation programmes during the Covid-19 pandemic recommend that routine immunisation programmes be sustained in places where essential health services have an operational capacity of adequate human resources and vaccine supply (Abbas et al., 2020). Disruption of immunisation services (even for a short period) can result in an outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases,

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which could be catastrophic for communities and health systems already battling the impacts of Covid-19, and substantially increase unnecessary deaths. Interruptions to routine immunisation during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa (2013–2016) resulted in an outbreak of measles, resulting in thousands of unnecessary deaths (Masresha et al., 2020). Secondly, there are grave implications of reduced access to reproductive health in the healthcare sector. Globally, women account for about 70% of the health and social care workforce (World Health Organization, 2019). As such as when women cannot access reproductive services such as investigations that would lead to early diagnosis, this leads to reduced healthcare services. Besides, lack of access to women’s healthcare services would over time worsen health indices such as maternal mortality, family planning, neonatal mortality, immunisation, and under-five mortality. The probability of a woman who did not attend antenatal care or who had home delivery to bring her baby for immunisation is low. Such women are unlikely to seek and receive postnatal visits where family planning is discussed or where the baby is examined to confirm wellness or otherwise. Lastly, with the global attention turning to controlling the Covid-19 pandemic and effectively managing Covid-19 cases, healthcare resources such as human and financial services may be refocused overwhelmingly to combating Covid-19. Such a response often leads to the neglect of basic and regular essential health services, which will result in decreased supply of reproductive, pediatric, surgical, and chronic disease care (Roberton et al., 2020).

Conclusion The Covid-19 pandemic is threatening to break down Africa’s fragile development framework by impacting women’s health. This chapter reviewed the status of Africa women’s health before the pandemic, making a note of the shaky foundation, and interlaced that understanding with the realities of a pandemic ravaged world. Because individual and public health are intricately bound to societal progress, we argue that to make good on our commitments to the SDGs in Africa, more must be done to protect and improve women’s health on the continent.

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CHAPTER 6

Covid-19 Pandemic and the Girl Child Education: The Case of Nigeria and South Africa Ebes Aziegbe-Esho, Adebukola E. Oyewunmi, and Grietjie Verhoef

Introduction The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared Covid-19 viral outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020 (WHO, 2020). Since then, apart from the many lives that have been lost, the most notable effects of the pandemic have been

E. Aziegbe-Esho (B) · G. Verhoef University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa e-mail: [email protected] G. Verhoef e-mail: [email protected] A. E. Oyewunmi Covenant University, Otta, Nigeria

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_6

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the closure of airports and the halt of international travels. Many businesses and schools were also shutdown in an attempt to stop, or at least slow down, the spread and infection rate of the Covid-19 virus. Global economies suffered through the pandemic. Overall, Africa’s economy in 2020 was projected to contract by 3.3% resulting in the continent’s first recession in twenty-five (25) years (World Bank, 2020a). It was also projected that most African countries would rebound and grow only at modest rates in 2021 and 2022 (World Bank, 2020a). While economic growth may rebound, the education sector is most likely to feel the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic long after its eradication. The shutdown of schools meant that formal learning and education was disrupted in most countries. School closures have affected about 1.6 billion students in over 190 countries across the globe (United Nations, 2020a). The disruption to schooling brought many changes to the education sector globally. Online and virtual learning using various digital platforms has become the norm in many educational institutions. This has, fortunately, in some ways, allowed learning to continue during the pandemic. Arguably, this is a positive change to the mode of education worldwide and brought many schools to rethink didactic strategies and modes of delivering learning to their students. It may be easy to see and measure the impact of the pandemic on the education sector. However, the overall impact on the girl child education in Africa, which was already severely affected before the pandemic, may be more subtle to observe and measure. Several studies on the impact of Covid-19 on the female gender concentrated on mental health, gender roles, and socio-economic effects such as unemployment and job losses (e.g. Alon et al., 2020a, 2020b; Casale & Posel, 2021; Fisher & Ryan, 2021; Oreffice & QuintanaDomeque, 2021; Parry & Gordon, 2021; Reichelt et al., 2021). Others focused on the impact on education generally (e.g. Le Grange, 2020; OECD, 2020; Pokhrel & Chhetri, 2021; Sir Daniel, 2020). Conducting studies on the impact of the pandemic on women and girls, and education, have great utility. However, few studies directed the focus to the effects of the pandemic on the education of girls. In this chapter, we discuss the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on girl child education in Africa. Although the pandemic also affected the education of boys, existing socio-economic and cultural factors make the impact on girl child education more imperious. Pandemics generally have a gendered impact where girls and women are disproportionately affected

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(Parry & Gordon, 2021). While we focus on the two largest economies in Africa, Nigeria and South Africa, the negative impact of the pandemic on the girl child education, undoubtedly, can be generalised across board to other African countries. We go beyond discussing challenges and issues to making specific policy and research recommendations. Our hope is that the recommendations we present can be tailored to tackle similar issues and challenges to girl child education across all African countries. Finally, although the chapter focuses mainly on girl child education, some of the challenges, issues, and recommendations presented also apply to the education of both genders.

Girl Child Education and the Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic The right to education is a fundamental human right. United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030. Unfortunately, although education is a fundamental human right, it is not equally accessible to all. This disparity is more gender-related than any other factor limiting access to education. In most developing countries, boys have better access to quality education than girls. The countries with the worst Gender Parity Index (GPI)1 in education are located in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (UNICEF, 2020). Twenty-five per cent (25%) of girls and twenty per cent (20%) of boys of primary school age are out of school in SSA (UNICEF, 2020). Similar data at the secondary and tertiary levels of education are even worse and with more complex patterns. Available data indicate that girls are comparatively more disadvantaged in accessing education than boys (UNICEF, 2020). Although gender disparity in education is almost a worldwide phenomenon, it is considerably worse in SSA. However, gender disparity in education is not a new phenomenon. It has existed prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic has exasperated gender inequalities, not just in education, but in various spheres (Alon et al., 2020a, 2020b; Fisher & Ryan, 1 GPI is a quantitative measure of the ratio of the number of girls to boys enrolled in primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of education; gender parity at any level of education is said to have been achieved when a country’s GPI is between 0.97 and 1.03 ( UNICEF, 2020). Apart from enrolment rates, GPI can also be measured using school completion rates.

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2021; Le Grange, 2020; Oreffice & Quintana-Domeque, 2021; Parry & Gordon, 2021; Pokhrel & Chhetri, 2021; Reichelt et al., 2021). Unfortunately, gender inequalities in these other life spheres all directly or indirectly create disparity in girl child education. In many cultures, girls, unlike boys, are required to perform “domestic chores… and run households or farms” (United Nations, 2020a). In a pandemic where virtual learning has become the major platform for teaching and learning, girl child education has been affected more adversely than before the pandemic. In a public health pandemic such as Covid-19, there are four main factors affecting girl child education adversely: Healthcare demands, domestic burdens, domestic violence, and reproductive health (UNESCO, 2020). Each of these factors poses several limitations on girl child education. These four factors are intricately connected, and the effects on girl child education could prove to be devastating. While the effects of these factors have been felt globally, they could potentially be also more devastating in poorer regions that are predominantly in the Global South than the developed regions in the Global North. The occupations predominantly employing women, have been affected more by the Covid-19 pandemic than other sectors. Education and health sectors, which predominantly employ women, have been hit during this pandemic in many ways (Alon et al., 2020a; Reichelt et al., 2021). On the one hand, as healthcare workers, they are more exposed to the virus and bear the burden of caring for patients, in addition to the burden of caring for the home. This burden is exacerbated by the closures of schools and many businesses (Alon et al., 2020a). On the other hand, as education workers, conducting learning and teaching virtually from home has no doubt been tedious. In many homes, domestic chores are mostly performed by women who now have to add to this responsibility, working from home and also taking care of children who hitherto would not have been at home. Globally, this can be argued to be the case. However, in developing countries, and many SSA countries, this domestic burden extends not just to women but to girl children (United Nations, 2020a). Girl children may miss out on continuing their education virtually because of the burden of helping in the home. Across the world, home confinement during the pandemic resulted in an escalation of domestic violence and reproductive health challenges such as adolescent pregnancy (WHO, 2021). A United Nations report found that since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, cases of domestic violence

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has intensified in Argentina, Cyprus, Canada, France, Germany, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States (United Nations, 2020b). In some countries, the rise in domestic violence exceeded 33% (United Nations, 2020b). In many communities, the chances of pregnant adolescents returning to school are slim, and many may be forced into early marriages as a result of such pregnancies. In an already dire economic situation, brought about by the pandemic itself, returning to school, especially for children from poor families, may be the least viable option. The consequences of domestic violence and reproductive health challenges such as teenage pregnancies are multifarious. Many of these consequences will also persist in affecting the lives of the girls long beyond the duration of the pandemic. Given the already poor Gender Parity Index figures for many countries in SSA, the pandemic may have regressed advances made in girl child education. Below, we present the cases of the situation in Nigeria and South Africa on how education, especially girl child education, has been impacted by the pandemic.

Girl Child Education in Nigeria: Geographical Divisions and Deepening Crisis Nigeria has made significant progress in the education of the girl child and the provision of inclusive learning opportunities. However, like in many developing countries, the education landscape is defined by socioeconomic class, geography, insecurity, religious and cultural ideologies. These inter-related factors are key determinants of access to education, especially for the girl child. Out of 13.2 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, the girl child accounts for about 60% of the figure (Ishaku, 2021 ). The Gender Parity Index for education in Nigeria is generally below 1.0. However, the pervasive nature of education deprivation is evidenced in Northern Nigeria more than in the southern part of the country. The net school attendance of the girl child in Northern Nigeria is low, even though primary education is free and compulsory. According to the British Council report on gender (2012), more than two-thirds of girls in the 15–19 age bracket in Northern Nigeria are unable to read or write compared to less than 10% in the South. Additionally, only 3% of female students in Northern Nigeria complete secondary school education. Despite the effort of government and private interest, gender

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differentials in education opportunities and outcomes remain in many parts of the country. The fragile state of education in Nigeria was further threatened by the unprecedented disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected over 40 million learners nationwide with about 91% being primary and secondary school learners (Walker, 2020). School closure as part of national responses to contain the pandemic has affected the education of 734 million girls globally, and it is predicted that 10 million secondary-aged girls will be out of school by the end of the pandemic. In sub-Saharan Africa, it is predicted that one million girls may never go back to school as a result of the disproportionate effects of the pandemic on the girl child (Witter, 2021). In Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Education, the main government agency responsible for education, approved the closure of primary and secondary schools, and tertiary education institutions (Nlebem, 2020; TEP & NESG, 2020). All education institutions were asked to re-open for physical teaching and learning on January 18, 2021, with strict rules on sanitation and physical distancing to prevent the spread of the virus. The pandemic has increased economic hardship for low-income families in Nigeria and increased the learning gaps across the country. The cultural characterisation of the girl child in many parts of Nigeria portends that in a pandemic situation, low-income families may choose to focus on boys’ education while girls are saddled with income generation and domestic responsibilities in the household. The economic effect of Covid19 exposes the girl child to exploitative and dangerous child labour. However, the decline in family income due to parents losing jobs and businesses shutting down leaves many children with no choice than to help support their families through long work hours, for little pay and in hazardous environments. Many households in Nigeria have received little or no government assistance in response to the harsh economic effect of the pandemic and, therefore, cannot protect their children from exploitative work. While some girls may continue with their education upon school re-opening, some may never return as a result of other roles they have assumed during the pandemic. The disruptions caused by the pandemic gave rise to the wider adoption of virtual learning across Nigeria. However, challenges with infrastructure such as poor and unstable electricity supply, poor quality and slow internet speed, and lack of internet-enabled devices proved to be hindrances to remote learning. Another major challenge, however,

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was that learners from financially buoyant households, who attended private schools, had better and more access to quality remote learning programmes. Children at the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum are disadvantaged as they have little or no access to remote learning aids and technology outside the school. Most of these students attend government-owned schools which are limited by funds and lacking in infrastructure. Although the Nigerian Ministry of Education adopted the home learning teaching methods through local media channels, i.e. radio stations, the unreliable electricity supply has limited the expected results of such initiatives. To a large extent, digital divides still exist in Nigeria along regional, socio-economic and demographic contours (Adeleke, 2021). Many households in Nigeria do not have access to internet services, and girls have lesser access compared to their male counterparts. A study by Chair and De Lannoy (2018) found that girls in Nigeria’s rural areas had no access to internet resources and lacked digital skills. Another effect of the pandemic on girl child education is a higher risk of sexual and gender-based violence. Sexual violence may occur in the forms of sexual abuse, child marriage, rape, forced abortion, sexual harassment, trafficking and forced prostitution, sexual abuse of persons with disabilities, female genital mutilation, etc. Research has shown that sexual violence against girls and women increased during the Covid19 pandemic, compromising their mental and physical well-being (John et al., 2020). The Nigerian social context is characterised by peculiar religio-cultural ideologies that have shaped identities and worldviews. The social space is governed by rigid patriarchal structures that define the place and role of women as inferior. Child brides are much more likely to drop out of school compared to their peers who marry later (World Bank, 2021). They are also at higher risks of being victims of violence perpetrated by their partners. Whatsoever the form, sexual violence births victimhood, adolescent pregnancies, social stigmatisation, sexually transmitted diseases, and physical injuries. The inaccessibility of support services (i.e. child protection initiatives, reproductive health programmes) as a result of the pandemic exacerbates the effects of sexual violence and reduces the chances of reporting such incidences. These outcomes and the unequal gender norms could prevent girls from completing their education, thereby increasing the drop-out rate.

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Girl Child Education in South Africa: Gender, Social, and Racial Inequalities or a Cursory Gender Parity? The purpose of education in all developing societies goes beyond the development of the human mind to attempt to correct prevalent social, cultural, racial, and economic inequalities. This is as much the case in South Africa as in any other African state. The Lockdown enforced on South Africa was among the strictest in the world. The lockdown which was announced on March 23, 2020 by President Cyril Ramaphosa took effect from midnight of March 26, 2020. Expectedly, the strict lockdown put a strain on the nation’s economy. The Department of Statistics, South Africa, has reported that economic growth slumped by 7% in 2020 (Stats SA, 2021), primarily the result of the hard lockdown. Although measures and stimulus packages were put in place to cushion the effects of the pandemic on people and businesses, the education sector appears not to have been the main focus of government policy. The focus seems to have been on businesses and on reviving the economy, and perhaps perceptibly so. There have been cuts to funding and budgets for public universities and higher education (van Schalkwyk, 2021). There have also been some cuts to student grants, such as the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NASFAS) (van Schalkwyk, 2021). The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), a feeding and nutrition education programme for students and parents, was also left stranded as the programme was temporarily suspended during the early stages of the lockdown (Le Grange, 2020). While this may seem like apparent neglect of the education sector, and may even appear to have been deliberate, or possibly even inevitable, several other provisions were made to cushion the effects of the pandemic, particularly on the learning of higher education students. Government, in collaboration with universities, NASFAS, and mobile network providers, for example, made provision for devices and data to ease the burden of virtual learning of higher education students (DHET, 2020; Hedding et al., 2020; USAf, 2020). However, what appears more troublesome, and which has potentially real damaging effects on education, are the reports of criminality, crumbling infrastructure, embezzlement of funds, theft of resources, and job-for-pals scandals, which have been widely reported (Amnesty International, 2020; Brian et al., 2018; Davis, 2019 Mouton et al., 2013; Rall, 2019; SABC News, 2018). Reports of lack of professionalism and work

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ethic by some teachers, and corruption in schools in many provinces have also been in the media since the Covid-19 pandemic (SABC News, 2020). The current effect and the potential impact of these on education will only be exasperated by the COVID pandemic. As with many other countries, the most notable and immediate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the missed learning opportunities. While most students of tertiary educational institutions were able to continue their learning virtually, learning and teaching at the primary and secondary school levels came to a halt. Learning at lower levels of education only resumed with the staggering re-opening of the primary and secondary schools. Different grades resumed back to schools at different times. The effects of these learning losses at basic levels of education can last into the future as far as 2031, upsetting past gains and progress (Gustafsson & Deliwe, 2020). However, beyond the missed learning opportunities for children at basic school levels, children from vulnerable communities also missed out on feeding and nutrition (Le Grange, 2020). The effects of this on children’s learning and education are more difficult to quantify. Many children, particularly those from disadvantaged homes and communities, may have inadvertently been left behind in learning because of the pandemic. Moreover, many homes and communities may have become disadvantaged as a result of job losses in the pandemic. Between February 2020, before the beginning of the lockdown, and April 2020, just one month into the lockdown, 35% of South African women lost their jobs compared to 26% of men (Casale & Posel, 2021). Like in many other climes, women in South Africa have borne the burden of the pandemic much more than men, further increasing gender inequalities (Casale & Posel, 2021; Parry & Gordon, 2021). Interestingly, South Africa has one of the highest GPIs in Africa. In 2019, for example, the GPI for tertiary education comprising of universities, Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Community Education and Training (CET) colleges were all above 1.0 (Khuluvhe & Negogogo, 2021). Between 1989 and 2018, available data from the World Bank shows that the country’s GPI for primary and secondary school levels has also been over 1.0 (World Bank, 2020b). Although South Africa’s female population is slightly more than the male population, these relatively high GPI values suggest that pre-Covid-19 pandemic, there was little or no gender inequalities in accessing education at all levels in South Africa.

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However, the adverse conditions created by the pandemic may have affected girl child education in other ways beyond access to education, measured through enrolment and completion rates and reflected in GPIs. The sharp increase in gender-based violence against women in the country necessitated the government to put measures to curb the menace in place and for the President to call it South Africa’s second pandemic (Dlamini, 2021; Ellis, 2020). This suggests that there are other issues relating to girl child education that must be addressed. Statistical data and figures may not always be able to answer all the questions or even reveal all the facts about girl child education. In summary, the disadvantages and inequalities to education in South Africa appear not to be based primarily on gender but on other factors such as economic, social, and perhaps racially based factors; given the nation’s peculiar history. Moreover, the allegations of systemic corruption and other unethical practices in the education sector, if proven true, have the potential of creating not only inequalities, but a degeneration in the quality of education for both girls and boys.

Policy and Research Recommendations The challenges Covid-19 pandemic pose to the education system offer great opportunities to all stakeholders; including parents, and students to rethink education. Government policies must be intentional and strategic. The first objective should be to overturn any disruption of the girl child education, and education generally. To achieve this, the first step would be to measure with some indices. This, however, presumes that data and statistics of gender disparity on education at all levels before the Covid19 pandemic are available. Where the necessary pre-pandemic indices and measures are not available, efforts are needed to put them in place even during the pandemic. In this way, comparisons with the same measures conducted after the pandemic could help give indications of progress. This will aid in future monitoring and control. The measures of GPI, which gives quantity indices and not necessarily the quality of education received by both genders, are not enough (Aziegbe-Esho & Anetor, 2020). Moreover, it has been shown that it is quality girl child education that has a positive impact on a country’s economic growth and development, not just the quantity (Hanushek & Woessmann, 2008; King & Winthrop, 2015).

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Covid-19 pandemic has also exposed the weaknesses, inadequacies, and various shades of inequalities of the current education systems globally. Digitalisation of education systems, for example, has become one of the basic necessities. Preparing students must start with the digitalisation of the systems that educate them as future workforce. Although we do not envisage the absolute abolition of teaching and learning in physical classrooms, virtual learning, and other alternatives to education in a physical geographical space need to be explored. In addition to online learning through existing virtual platforms, other possible flexible modes of delivering teaching and learning, such as radio, television, social media, and games, need to be explored. Arrangements for delivering education to students should be made flexible, not just in terms of the delivery mode of learning, but also in all aspects of the value chain of education. Current models of financing education also need to be re-evaluated. The recession induced by the pandemic has absorbed fiscal resources causing massive state insolvencies. It may take years for many countries to recover economically and financially. The recent student protests in March 2021 over funding in South Africa are evidence that new models of financing education have to be explored, and efforts to curb and punish corruption and mismanagement of funds need to be taken more seriously. In this regard, perhaps the “spirit” of Africapitalism where Africa’s private sector commits to the socio-economic development of the continent (Adeleye et al., 2019; Amaeshi & Idemudia, 2015) can be explored to generate new models of financing education. A set of stakeholders policymakers must address, is teachers and caregivers in pre-primary schools. While it is necessary to focus on students, who are the main recipients of any education system, the agents of teaching and learning must be prioritised. This support could come in various forms such as the focussed training and development required to adapt to changing states of education delivery, additional allowances, new and more flexible forms of formal work leave, provision of additional resources, and other forms of support that may enable teachers to deliver teaching and learning effectively. Just as the mental health of workers in other occupations and industries has been impacted by the pandemic, teachers and caregivers may also need necessary support to cope with new workloads and work modes. Post Covid-19, the state of Nigeria’s education necessitates the broadbased adoption of ICT-learning infrastructure that is adaptive and accessible across regions, social class, and genders. There must be concerted

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efforts by policymakers to resolve the multiple challenges of digital inequality, which is a predictor of twenty-first-century inequalities (Cigna, 2018). There is a sense of cautious optimism that this will bridge the digital divide that exists and promote innovative learning paradigms. More than ever, policy implementation must be driven to ensure that the girl child is provided with lifelong opportunities for knowledge and skill acquisition. A strong political will to do this should be reflected in increased funding to ensure inclusive education and increased opportunities for the girl child to secure scholarships and grants. Social protection structures should be reinforced for girl child rights, safety, and protection. The high GPI in South Africa is impressive. However, there is still a need to investigate the impressive GPI that gives the impression that all is well with girl child education in South Africa through in-depth exploratory and statistical analyses. All cannot be assumed to be well, especially given the high rates of domestic and gender-based violence against women in South Africa (Dlamini, 2021; Ellis, 2020). A fruitful avenue for research in this regard could be to investigate and delve deep into the role of race and traditional culture. The gender parity indices for different racial groups could be investigated, for example, to establish the existence of possible racial variances in GPIs, and how they may have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Generally, we recommend extensive surveys to determine the impact of the pandemic on education, and particularly on girl child education. Therefore, apart from the use of traditional well-known global indices for comparative studies, African countries will need to also conduct widescale surveys to measure the impact of the pandemic on various aspects of education. Some questions will need to be specifically investigated. How effective was learning and teaching during the pandemic? How effective are the various modes of transmitting learning to students? What kinds of support were available during the pandemic? How many students had access to the available support during and after the pandemic? Respondents to these kinds of surveys must include all stakeholders; teachers, students, parents, caregivers, and other stakeholders. Also, a multi-facet analysis could be conducted to give a more rounded analysis and view of the situation. More than ever, African countries may need to conduct their own local surveys and not rely solely on surveys conducted by global agencies. Since numbers do not always tell the full story of any situation, exploratory and qualitative studies could also be conducted especially to understand norms and traditions that are beyond

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the general norms. Finally, understanding the impact of a pandemic that has been as devastating as Covid-19 requires inter-disciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches to conducting any required research. Otherwise, recommended solutions will be incapable of providing comprehensive solutions.

Conclusion Covid-19 pandemic has been rightly called a multifaceted crisis (Le Grange, 2020). One of the sectors that have had the most impact is education, blaring open existing gender disparities in education in many countries in Africa. The gender dimensions of the Covid-19 pandemic closure may be a universal issue that has affected all countries, not just African countries (UNESCO, 2020). However, the exasperation to gender inequality in education has been felt most by countries in Africa where learning and teaching could not continue, especially at primary and secondary school levels, worsening an already critical situation. Special care needs to be taken so that the fragile gains to girl child education that has been achieved in African countries, so far, do not get reversed by the inequalities and gender disparities created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Achieving this will take concerted efforts, not only by governments and policymakers, but also by researchers and those directly involved in education. The most youthful population resides in SSA, and the region is projected to have the most youthful population by 2050. Education of girls and women have great impact, not only in the lives of the people themselves but also on the growth and development of countries. If African countries are to grow and develop, the gender disparities in education, which have been worsened at different levels in different countries, need urgent attention even before the Covid-19 pandemic comes to an end.

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OECD. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on education: Insights from education at a glance 2020. https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/ Oreffice, S., & Quintana-Domeque, C. (2021). Gender inequality in COVID19 times: Evidence from UK prolific participants. Journal of Demographic Economics, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1017/dem.2021.2 Rall, S. (2019, August 30). School corruption highlighted in latest report. https://www.iol.co.za/mercury/news/school-corruption-highlighted-in-lat est-report-31492767 Reichelt, M., Makovi, K., & Sargsyan, A. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on gender inequality in the labour market and gender-role attitudes. European Societies, 23(sup1), S228–S245. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2020. 1823010 SABC News. (2018, April 4). SA schools faced with maladministration, misuse of funds. https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/sa-schools-faced-maladmini stration-misuse-funds/ SABC News. (2020, December 10). Chief Justice Mogoeng blasts government officials involved in COVID-19 corruption. https://www.sabcnews.com/sab cnews/chief-justice-mogoeng-blasts-government-officials-involved-in-covid19-corruption/ Sir Daniel, J. (2020). Education and the COVID-19 pandemic. Prospects, 49, 91–96. Stats SA. (2021). GDP: Quantifying SA’s economic performance in 2020. http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=14074&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-cu79LH8QIVQuztCh0r-gZqEAAYASAAEgKxgfD_BwE Parry, B. R., & Gordon, E. (2021). The shadow pandemic: Inequitable gendered impacts of COVID-19 in South Africa. Gender Work Organization, 28(2), 795–806. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12565 Pokhrel, S., & Chhetri, R. (2021). A literature review on impact of COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and learning. Higher Education for the Future, 8(1), 133–141. TEP & NESG. (2020). Learning in a pandemic: Nigeria’s response to teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://learningportal.iiep. unesco.org/en/library/learning-in-a-pandemic-nigeria%e2%80%99s-responseto-teaching-and-learning-during-the-covid-19 USAf. (2020). Emergency teaching and learning during the COVID-19 Era. A Publication of Universities South Africa. USAf. https://www.usaf.ac.za/wpcontent/uploads/2020/05/Emergency-Teaching-and-Learning-During-theCOVID-19-era.pdf. van Schalkwyk, F. (2021). Reflections on the public university sector and the covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. Studies in Higher Education, 46(1), 44– 58. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1859682

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Walker, J. (2020). Reflections on innovations in girls’ education in Nigeria. Education Plus Development Brookings. www.brookings.edu/blog/educat ion-plus-development/2020/06/26/reflections-on-innovation-in-girls-edu cation-in-nigeria WHO. (2020). World Health Organization; Coronavirus Disease (COVID-2019) weekly epidemiological update and weekly operational update. https://www. who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports/ WHO. (2021). School closures and teenage pregnancy. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 99, 6–7. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.21.020121 Witter, A. (2021). How Covid-19 is threatening girls’ education. https://www. one.org/international/blog/girls-education-crisis-Covid-19/ World Bank. (2020a). The World Bank in Africa: Overview. https://www.wor ldbank.org/en/region/afr/overview World Bank. (2020b). School enrolment, primary and secondary (gross), Gender Parity Index (GPI)—South Africa. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ SE.ENR.PRSC.FM.ZS?locations=ZA World Bank. (2021). Girls’ education. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/ girlseducation UNESCO. (2020). COVID-19 school closures: Why girls are more at risk. http://www.iiep.unesco.org/en/covid-19-school-closures-why-girls-aremore-risk-13406 UNICEF. (2020). Gender and education. https://data.unicef.org/topic/gen der/gender-disparities-in-education/ United Nations. (2020a). Policy brief: Education during COVID-19 and beyond. https://unsdg.un.org/resources/policy-brief-education-duringcovid-19-and-beyond United Nations. (2020b). Infographic: The shadow pandemic—Violence against women and girls and COVID-19. https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-lib rary/multimedia/2020/4/infographic-covid19-violence-against-women-andgirls

CHAPTER 7

The Impact of Covid-19 on the African Workforce Through the Lenses of Nurses and Midwives Lydia Aziato, Mary Ani-Amponsah, Merri Iddrisu, and Lillian Akorfa Ohene

Introduction The Corona Virus-19 (Covid-19) pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on mankind, and its deadly nature will leave an indelible mark forever. The disease has affected humans physically, psychologically, socioeconomically, and spiritually because of the effect on work and restrictions on physical gatherings. At the peak of the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued guidelines to curb further spread (WHO, 2020); which led to shutting down of schools, most businesses, local and international borders, churches and mosques, and many state institutions. Lockdowns limited movements, and this brought about untoward hardships to many people, including nurses and midwives. Mobility

L. Aziato (B) · M. Ani-Amponsah · M. Iddrisu · L. A. Ohene School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_7

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restrictions enforced during the lockdown periods in Africa impacted vehicular movements for nurses and midwives who did not have their own means of transport to work. The World Health Organization declared the year 2020 as the year of the nurse and midwife, to celebrate nurses and midwives across the globe. Although Covid-19 pandemic shifted the attention of the world to the mass spread of the disease, the public has felt the impact of nurses and midwives in the healthcare industry through their bravery as they worked as frontline health workers to fight the pandemic (Treston, 2020). Nurses and midwives report to work despite the global surge in the infection rates amidst fear of contracting the disease and possible transmission to other family members (Catania et al., 2021). Historical trends in healthcare delivery in Africa show perpetual challenges associated with low nurse/midwife to patient population ratios, migration issues, capacity building gaps, and lack of enabling practice environments (Dovlo, 2007; McPake et al., 2019; Rispel & Bruce, 2014). In addition, pandemics come with massive implications on healthcare systems and the workforce, especially nurses and midwives, who form about 60% of the health sector staff and have work demands that require constant stay with patients around the clock (International Council of Nurses, 2021). Nurses and midwives caring for patients with Covid-19 experience physical exhaustion, mental stress, stigma, separation from families, and the pain of losing many patients, including colleagues (Catania et al., 2021). In addition, many nurses have had the infection, and some have lost their lives (Lapolla et al., 2021). In Africa, where major gaps in response capacity exist, especially with respect to inadequate personal protective equipment and human resources (Chersich et al., 2020; Kock et al., 2021), the work of nurses and midwives became extremely difficult, more stressful, and riskier. The family system in Africa is very much valued; and the health workforce, which comprises females predominantly, poses greater risks to their family members during pandemics as they live and care for them. During this Covid-19 pandemic, nurses and midwives have experienced isolation from their families as they moved out to live in arranged accommodation facilities provided by their healthcare institutions to limit the spread of the infection (De los Santos & Labrague, 2021). Nurses and midwives remain concerned about the health of their families as they present risks with the spread of the disease to their partners and families (Billings et al., 2020).

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Covid-19, Nurses and Midwives in Africa Nurses and midwives in Africa are actively engaged in saving lives, promoting health and preventing the further spread of diseases through contact tracing and health education in the health facilities and communities. There is emerging evidence that nurses working as frontline health workers experience a global phenomenon of mass trauma (Chersich et al., 2020). This trauma is mainly because of a myriad of complex issues that intensify workload, increase the risk of spreading the virus to families, escalate the patient dependency and mortality rates, reveal the lack of personal protective equipment and a surge in violence and discrimination against nurses and midwives (Catania et al., 2021; International Council of Nurses, 2021). Many nurses and midwives have suffered Covid-19, and some have died in the course of duty (Lapolla et al., 2021). The loss of lives of healthcare personnel has dire consequences on the manpower requirements of the healthcare industry; hence efforts must be made to prevent further loss of lives (Catania et al., 2021). Nurses and midwives feel overwhelmed and have difficulty sleeping due to the impact of Covid-19 in the United States (American Nurses Association, 2021). Similarly, in Africa, a study conducted in 13 African countries established that a higher percentage of nurses experience daily depressive symptoms during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period (Debes et al., 2021). Therefore, it is expedient to provide nurses and midwives with the needed care to help them cope well physically, psychologically, and socially. It is a concern that the negative impacts of the pandemic have contributed to some nurses and midwives leaving the profession (Said & El-Shafei, 2021). Research focusing on nurses and midwives’ intention to stay and work, and their wellness strategies are needed to plan towards the future. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) warns that the longer-term impact of Covid-19 could include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that has increased negative psychological and emotional impact (ICN, 2021). These could include high levels of anxiety, distress, depression, and insomnia, especially because they see many people die (Shaukat et al., 2020). The toll of Covid-19 on nurses and midwives stems from the fact that they spend more time with the patients over the 24-h shift. We discuss the data related to the impact of Covid-19 from the perspectives of nurses and midwives in Ghana.

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Methods This study adopted a qualitative exploratory descriptive design that enabled a detailed exploration of the physical, psychological, and social impacts of Covid-19 on nurses and midwives. Eleven government-funded hospitals across the three northern, middle, and southern zones of Ghana were purposefully selected. The selected hospitals were designated facilities with isolation centres for both suspected and confirmed Covid-19 cases from across Ghana. All cadres of nurses who worked at the emergency departments and isolation areas designated for Covid-19 cases were included in this study. A total of 29 nurses participated in this research. One-on-one telephone interviews were conducted using a semistructured interview guide. Questions such as: “Kindly share with me how the COVID pandemic has affected you, your family and work; Please tell me how the COVID pandemic has affected you physically; How has COVID pandemic affected socially” were asked. All interviews were conducted in English and audio recorded with participants’ consent. The interviews with each participant lasted between 30 and 60 min. Data saturation was reached by the twenty-sixth participant when no new information or concepts emerged. Additional three (3) participants were, however interviewed to validate saturation. Data were analysed using content analysis procedures. The analysis began with transcribing the audio-recorded interviews concurrently with data collection. Each transcript was labelled with identification (ID) codes to ensure anonymity and confidentiality. Each transcript was carefully read several times by all authors to familiarise themselves with the data. All four authors coded the interviews separately. In a series of research meetings, the identified codes with similarities were grouped into clusters of concepts, out of which themes emerged (Graneheim et al., 2017). The research gained ethical approval from the Ethics Review Committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana (Approval ID: N&MC/IRC/VOL1/002). All ethical principles regarding human research pertaining to respect for participants, informed consent, beneficence, justice, risks, and benefits were strictly complied with. Participants were informed about their rights to withdraw from the study at any point without fear of victimisation. All information gathered were protected to ensure privacy and confidentiality. The researchers anticipated emotional

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breakdowns; thus, the services of a Clinical Psychologist were made available to all participants when needed, but none of the participants accessed this service. A systematic approach was followed throughout to ensure the trustworthiness of the study. Member checking was conducted for verification and validation of findings. The researchers ensured open discussions at all stages of the study and kept an audit trail throughout the study for any future audit assessment.

Results and Findings Overall, twenty-nine (N = 29) nurses and midwives participated. Twentysix (26) were females and three (3) were males. Majority of the nurses/midwives were single (n = 16), whilst 13 were married. Of the three males, two were single, and one was married. In relation to professional qualifications, nine (9) of the nurses were Senior Nursing Officers (SNOs); eight (8) were Nursing Officers (NOs); seven (7) were Principal Nursing Officers (PNOs); Two (2) were Senior Staff Nurses (SSNs); two (2) were Enrolled Nurse (ENs), and one (1) was a Deputy Director of Nursing Services (DDNS) (Table 7.1). Three (3) major themes which emerged from the study were; physical, psychological, and social impact of Covid-19 on African nurses and midwives.

Physical Impact of Covid-19 on African Nurses and Midwives Nurses and midwives have been working intensively in teams to do contact tracing, health education, and vaccination to build immunity and curb the alarming rate of spread of Covid-19. All these activities impact nurses and midwives physically and affect their entire bodies. Nurses and midwives are working longer hours in the Covid-19 centres with several inconveniences in getting to work and rendering patient care. We are doing a 12-hour shift, so if you are on day duty, you work till when the 12hours is over, then you hand over and go home, which makes you tired (NIC-B2). Yes, there are times I can walk... There was an occasion I got up in the morning, tried starting my motorbike, but it was not responding, so I had

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Table 7.1 Demographic characteristics of study participants Num

Gender

Age

Qualification

Years served

Rank

Marital status

No. of children

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Male Female Female Female Female Female Female Male Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Male Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female

31 35 35 34 36 30 41 35 37 56 31 33 34 45 52 26 44 42 34 37 35 33 31 40 42 32 42 45 30

Certificate BSc Nursing BSc Nursing BSc Nursing BSc Nursing Certificate BSc Nursing Diploma BSc Nursing BSc Nursing BSc Nursing Diploma Diploma Diploma BSc Nursing Certificate BSc Nursing BSc Nursing Diploma Diploma BSc Nursing BSc Nursing BSc Nursing Diploma BSc Nursing BSc Nursing Diploma BSc Nursing BSc Nursing

7 15 8 12 18 6 12 10 15 31 10 7 9 11 20 2 18 11 9 6 4 6 6 11 10 4 7 10 7

SNO SNO SNO SNO PNO SEN PNO SNO SNO DDNS NO SSN NO PNO PNO EN PNO PNO SNO SSN NO NO NO NO SNO NO SNO PNO NO

Single Single Single Single Married Single Married Single Married Married Single Single Single Married Married Single Married Married Single Married Single Single Single Married Married Single Married Married Single

None None None None Two None Three None Two Three None None One Three Three None Two Two None Two None None None Three Two None Two Three None

to leave it and walk, which makes you sweat a little before you get there (NIC-H1).

The longer hours per shift were run in Ghana because health facility managers were concerned that if staff numbers were increased on a shift and they get infected, it would drain the health human resource.

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We have to limit the number of staff because they told us if one member is infected it means all the team have to be quarantined …for some time before we get tested so we have to manage the 12-hour shift (NI-C2).

Meanwhile, the physical working environment of most health facilities in the African setting is such that it does not promote physical comfort. In addition, there was an inadequate supply of basic logistics and consumables in health facilities that further distressed nurses and midwives in performing their duties. I worked under stress … with my scrub on, I can’t set out to go and buy food so when I go in the morning I don’t eat early in the morning, …until 4pm that I have closed without food, the stress is too much for me (NIC-E2). ..the coverall is very, very uncomfortable to wear because it’s very hot inside, you will sweat a lot when you wear it under this our hot weather, …I bet you can’t wear it for more than 45 minutes, you will collapse, because you have to virtually cover the whole body there is no entry of air, and you depend on the little air you breathe through the mask (NIC-H1).

Despite the severity of the pandemic, nurses and midwives continued to work for about 10–12 hrs a day and experienced inadequate hand hygiene support and personal protective equipment (PPEs). When We Started, It Was that Bad. I Went to Do Training, and You Will not Even Get Water. One of My Nurses Even Asked for Water, and It Was a Problem (NIC J1). …sometimes I will come to work and will be asking for face mask, and I may not get any till I close. So sometimes, when I just pass by where there is a face mask, I will just go and pick one so that I can use it (NIC-E2).

Nursing organisations are of the view that giving support to nurses and midwives working at the frontlines through actions like increasing staff strength; facilitating childcare, providing risk allowance and transportation, as well as a constant and adequate supply of PPEs could improve their working conditions, motivate them, and increase their work output (Billings, et al., 2020; Brown, 2021).

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Psychological Impact of Covid-19 on African Nurses and Midwives The incidence of Covid-19 has had a significant impact on public health, healthcare providers including nurses and midwives (Mbunge, 2020). In Africa, nurses and midwives working as front liners in caring for patients and families with Covid-19 encounter emotional distress and dissociation from their loved ones (Chersich et al., 2020). I prepared and then accepted the thing, went for the training and had the knowledge…, I know the thing is scary, and everybody is afraid, but we should be courageous and fight this pandemic (NIC-B2).

Interventions to support nurses and midwives physically and psychologically have been established in some African countries. For instance, a Covid Resiliency Clinic in South Africa has been established to prove selfcare help to health professionals and their patients, and assist staff with regular family updates to calm their anxiety (Bröcker et al., 2021). The goal is to adequately manage the continuous stress, trauma, uncertainty, and losses faced by healthcare workers, patients, and their families during the pandemic. This intervention has been identified as beneficial at the individual and community levels in managing the stress and emotional distress associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. In Ghana, such structured interventions are not available; however, the informal approach is used. At times, when probably one of us has come into contact with Covid-19, we encourage the person saying - you will overcome, don’t worry we are together. You will stay strong; we use encouraging words. When we think someone is not doing well, we just put it there and we help to lighten up the person so that he/she would not feel lonely… We try to help one another in a little way so that we keep going as a team (NIC -D1).

The increased anxiety levels, post-traumatic stress disorders, and poor mental health of nurses taking care of patients with Covid-19 patients (Leng et al., 2021) continue to raise concerns. There is limited healthcare support and inadequate psychological measures for nurses providing care during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this study, discrimination, fear, and feeling depressed were identified in nursing and midwifery care delivery.

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Even with the Covid, you go to an office and someone will just shout, Go back! go back! I am not bothered but I ask myself, what would happened if I wasn’t strong? you feel discriminated (NIC-J1) At times you treat somebody you come into contact with and you hear the person is positive and all those things make you break down, you break down or when you hear a colleague has it, you break down. The fear aspect of it makes you break down emotionally (NIC-D1).

Chersich et al. (2020) establish the need for psychological support for nurses and midwives using counsellors or retired nurses through informal means, such as visiting the staff restrooms to listen to the challenges and stories staff encounter at work. This could be replicated in Africa.

Social impact of Covid-19 on nurses and midwives The social impact of Covid-19 on Africa has worsened its fragile healthcare system, which heightens vulnerabilities to disease outbreaks. For instance, in African societies, most people live and fend in social dwellings as a way of accessing supports from each other. Nevertheless, these social groups, of which health professionals are a part of, are economically vulnerable in nature. In most situations, people are living in poverty, which predisposes highly vulnerable persons like older people, persons with chronic medical conditions and disabilities, and unemployed youth to the pandemic (Salami et al., 2021). Some nurses and midwives lived with family members diagnosed with Covid-19, which led to their exposure to the virus. Petty stealing, robbery, and other forms of crimes increased during the temporary lockdowns to curb the Covid-19 infection rate. A nurse shared an experience in which her house was robbed one night after she closed late from work. I got home very late, and my main door was locked, so I had to use the other door. When I got there, there were some guys standing in front of the house. I greeted them and went inside. I decided to charge my phone for a while as I sat down in the chair to rest. Before I knew it, I fell asleep. The next time I woke up was around 2 a.m. and my phone was gone, my laptop, my iPad, my 2 pen drives and my money, were all gone. I was robbed (NIC-J1).

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government and its agencies were challenged by the healthcare crisis to provide support to health

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professionals. In the Ghanaian context, some of these supports came in the form of temporary housing within the environs of the health facilities designated for isolation and treatment of positive cases. I think when the whole thing started, we were challenged with transport to and from the hospital... We raised these concerns, and the hospital quickly put up some strategies and we were given a hall to camp within the hospital (NIC-E2).

Nevertheless, not all facilities could afford to provide such temporary accommodation for their staff. Therefore, the social restrictions impositions on movement and the transport systems affected most health professionals. In this study, nurses, and midwives complained about making alternative transport arrangements to enable them to get to work on time. These arrangements created a financial demand as the transport fares were relatively high. I pick taxi, sometimes Uber, because since we are doing 12 hours, I have to get to work by 7am and the bus that we were asked to pick sometimes delay. So, I pick either Taxi or Uber, and these are very costly for most of us (NIC-D1).

Socially, health professionals who were frontline workers in treating the Covid-19 cases experienced stigma. According to some nurses, they were stigmatised by some of their own colleagues, families, and friends. Ever since I volunteered to work at the isolation and treatment centre, I could not join to sit with my colleagues in the ward again. Sometimes when they see you approaching them, they will quickly disperse…some will boldly say—coronavirus is coming!. Now, my mum, children and husband are afraid to come close to me at home, all because I have come in contact with an infected person in the course of my work….hmmmm (NIC-E2).

Several communities within which health workers are also supportive of, have difficulties in accessing running water, and these unreasonably predisposed community members including health workers, to the coronavirus pandemic. In instances where queueing was done to access water, this posed significant risks. Evidence from our studies revealed that the national Covid-19 protocols had other negative social impacts on nurses

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and midwives as they were socially distant from their loved ones and vulnerable relations. My parents are not around, because of the COVID, I left them. So, for the past month I’ve not been to my parents’ place. I’ve been here because I want to protect them and protect myself (NIC-J1).

These issues raise concerns that require collaborative approaches and mechanisms to support nurses and midwives providing care in the frontline during this Covid-19 pandemic.

Discussion of Study Findings Physical Impact The supply of personal protective equipment has been inadequate in most African countries during the peak of the pandemic to the extent that even acquiring simple facemasks and water for handwashing were challenges in some primary healthcare centres in Africa (Chersich et al., 2020). Telemedicine has helped to rationalise human resources, decrease patient contact and infection risks in high-income countries, but this has not been adequately incorporated in most African healthcare facilities (Anthony Jnr, 2020; Calton et al., 2020; Rockwell & Gilroy, 2020). The advantage of telemedicine calls for national commitment and international support to enhance its use in African healthcare facilities (Chersich et al., 2020). This will essentially help limit the potential overwhelming effects of the pandemic that could endanger the lives of the health workers on the continent. Physically, the mode of spread of the virus requires that healthcare workers use apparel to prevent themselves from being infected. This apparel maintains heat, and wearing it becomes uncomfortable, especially with people in the African region due to the heat experienced within the warm climate. The prolonged usage of personal protective equipment (PPE) has led to some nurses and midwives developing skin damages and nasal bridge cutaneous problems (Shaukat et al., 2020). Psychological Impact In Africa, the lack of healthcare resources and inadequate logistics in caring for patients with Covid-19 infection place stress on frontline

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healthcare providers. For instance, In Mali, healthcare professionals manifested emotional disorders in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic due to inadequate protective gears (Sagaon-Teyssier et al., 2020). The results revealed signs of depression, anxiety, and insomnia, with a higher prevalence among female nurses. Similar studies in Ethiopia discovered an increased rate of anxiety, insomnia, depression, and mental distress as a common mental health disorder among healthcare workers in the Covid19 pandemic (Mulatu et al., 2020). These signs were more pronounced among nurses and midwives working in Covid-19 wards in Ethiopia. Shaibu et al. (2021) examined the dilemma of care responsibility and resource allocation among nurses and midwives in Kenya. They identified that moral tension emanated when healthcare workers sensed a high possibility of contracting Covid-19 infection, especially where resources such as protective equipment were lacking. These tensions were heightened when the organisational environment was not supportive of rendering standardised healthcare delivery (Shaibu et al., 2021) and mental health support were inadequate (Ornell et al., 2020). In Ghana, evidence of minimum preparedness to respond to the Covid-19 infection was found to relate to elevated levels of nervousness and phobia for contracting the disease among nurses (Afulani et al., 2021). This study projected the issues of perceived preparedness to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and its connection to healthcare worker stress and burnout, with implications for planning for future pandemics. Living with the fear of impending death of a patient, and the high incidence of deaths, typically when families do not have the privilege to re-connect with their loved ones and relations, has been traumatising. However, there has been minimal attempt to draw attention to the mental health support for nurses and midwives working in the frontline during this Covid-19 pandemic. The relational experiences of patients and colleagues in the last moments of imminent death amidst a limited or lack of lifesaving resources in Africa, engender moral suffering for nurses and midwives. Health workers contend with challenges such as lack or shortage of lifesaving medical resources, and dealing with the death of their colleagues and patients (Pouralizadeh et al., 2020; Rose, 2020; Shorey & Valerie, 2020). These stressors have left negative effects on the psychological and emotional well-being of nurses and midwives working in the frontline in Africa’s healthcare system (Gázquez et al., 2021). Semaan et al. (2020) reported the need for emotional and mental health support for midwives and child healthcare professionals. The study

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finding is consistent with that of Leng et al. (2021) where nurses raised concerns of fear over PPE shortages, poor sleep quality as well as physical and psychological burnout. Discrimination and stigmatisation have been identified as the most common form of attack on nurses working in the frontline, but limited psychosocial support is provided (Billings et al., 2020). Such discrimination was heightened when there was poor insight and limited knowledge on the mode of transmission of Covid-19; however, families, friends, and colleagues continue to form a significant support system for most medical personnel personally and virtually. It has been found that appreciation from facility management and relatives’ support were linked with lower stress and burnout levels, while fear of infection was associated with elevated stress and burnout (Afulani et al., 2021). Lukong and Jafaru (2021) identified low coping strategies and low resilience levels among healthcare workers in Northern Nigeria. Although the full psychological impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on nurses and midwives in Africa remains to be determined, the African health system and its healthcare workers have been significantly tested during the pandemic. The challenging working conditions have taken a significant toll on the psychological well-being of nurses and midwives in Africa. However, nurses and midwives have demonstrated courage, selflessness, and commitment to serve. Consequently, it is expected that through appropriate communication, strategic psychological and mental health support systems, the psychological well-being of nurses and midwives would be provided along the continuum of healthcare. Social Impact Africa recorded the lowest Covid-19 morbidity and mortality rates (Xiong et al., 2020); however, the standard protocols of disease management are not exceptional from any other continent. Restrictive measures, particularly those that limited social interaction, such as lockdowns (WilderSmith & Freedman, 2020), were imposed in many African countries, which severely affected social events and the health sector in equal measures. The health sector experienced limited access to women and children, who mostly were the targets for preventive and reproductive care (Ozili, 2020). Important medical programmes such as interventions delivered in groups (special clinics), preventive care (immunisation), health sector seminars, and conferences were all poorly accessed, with some

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suspended. Public meetings of medical societies and associations came to a halt. It is also worth noting that African society depends and thrives largely on person-to-person interactions (Salami et al., 2021); therefore, restrictions on social gathering affected communal relations, funerals, and entertainment events. Families abandoned their relatives who died prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, kept in the morgues for undue periods awaiting burial at post-COVID time. As a result of the fear of infections, most health workers who directly engaged in the management of the Covid-19 cases suffered social isolation. The persistent impositions on social gatherings may further deepen discriminations, exclusion, inequality, and unemployment in Africa. In Africa, women are the most affected economically by the impact of Covid-19 as they constitute more than two-thirds of the workforce in the informal sector (Salami et al., 2021). Typically, the informal sector relies heavily on the public space, which is also restricted. On central governments, the immediate effect of the Covid-19 pandemic to African countries resulted from global supply chain cuts due to lockdowns and border closures (Bashir et al., 2020; Ozili, 2020). Oil dependant African countries experienced a sharp drop in cash flows due to the drop in oil prices on the international markets. The unprecedented global supply chain distortions have put devastating financial pressure on various governments. In Ghana, the annual national budget for various sectors directly felt the pinch of the financial crisis. In the health ministries of Ghana, medical supplies were cut short. There were also cessations in inflows of international medical aids. Essentials such as PPEs necessary for health workers managing COVID- 19 cases could not be purchased for the simple reasons of unavailability due to lockdowns and lack of financial resources. Evidence shows that the African healthcare systems are weak in both human (Emejulu et al., 2020) and material resources (Ibrahim et al., 2019; MacQuilkan et al., 2018).

Recommendations for Recovery and Achievement of SDGs 8 in Africa The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 focuses on decent work and economic growth. This chapter has highlighted the immense negative impact of Covid-19 on the health workforce, which leaves much to be desired to achieve a decent work environment. Therefore, there is a need

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to improve resources (both human and material) for healthcare facilities in Africa. The high morbidity and mortality rate associated with Covid19 and the implications of lockdown and social and physical restrictions impair economic growth for nations, including African countries. There is, therefore, the call for enhanced technology such as electronic healthcare and the use of robotics within the African healthcare system. The call for improved internet access across the continent is reiterated so that virtual meetings and online services can be enhanced. The study also throws light on the need for African countries to be selfreliant since the Covid-19 led to a reduction in the supply of foreign aids. Thus, African countries must prioritise and produce quality and adequate medical supplies for healthcare.

Conclusion Globally, nurses and midwives form the backbone of the healthcare system; in Africa, they are in the frontline as healthcare providers. The outbreak of Covid-19 is feared to further worsen the weak human resource base of Africa’s health systems in Africa due to the associated mortality of healthcare workers. There are serious physical, psychological, and social effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on nurses and midwives, and other medical professionals in Africa, but economic factors continue to impact healthcare delivery in Africa. The already unattractive health system is feared to lose professional staff to other countries offering better work packages. Noting that the majority of the health workforce in Africa are nurses and midwives with inherent domestic responsibilities as women call for support on the continuum of care during this Covid-19 pandemic.

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CHAPTER 8

Women’s Entrepreneurship, Health-Related Crisis, and a Gender-Sensitive Crisis Management Model for Sustainable Development Oyedele Ogundana, Kehinde Akin-Akinyosoye, Deborah Ikhile, and Damilola Omodara

Introduction The coronavirus pandemic began in December 2019 and was described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a crisis that posed significant health, social and economic risks (WHO, 2021). The United States recorded more than 1.9 million new infections in July 2020, including more than 170,000 deaths from the disease, according to data from Johns Hopkins University as of 16 August 16, 2020 (Pham, 2020). Many individuals experienced difficulties in concentrating, boredom, irritability, restlessness, nervousness, a sense of loneliness, uneasiness, and worries during the pandemic (Saladino et al., 2020; Worldometers, 2021).

O. Ogundana (B) Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_8

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According to Omodara et al. (2020), the coronavirus crisis impacted businesses mainly in the form of business closures, limited business hours, reduced patronage, reduced business turnovers, and employee demotivation. Literature surrounding women entrepreneurship suggested that the crisis had a significant adverse impact on women-owned businesses more than on their male counterparts (Adams-Prassl et al., 2020; Alon et al., 2020; Martinez Dy & Jayawarna, 2020). For instance, the national lockdown regulations used as a medium to curtail the spread of the virus, had an unequally significant impact on women within the labour market (Adams-Prassl et al., 2020; Alon et al., 2020). This is due to the closure of schools and day-care centres which significantly increased childcare responsibilities for women, which had a tremendous impact on women entrepreneurs more than their male counterparts (Alon et al., 2020). Due to gender roles, women assumed the obligations of increased caregiving needs following school closures imposed as part of COVID19 lockdown protocols worldwide (Fortier, 2020; Martinez Dy & Jayawarna, 2020). The lack of preparation by stakeholders of women’s entrepreneurial ventures (including women entrepreneurs and policymakers) increased the vulnerability of women-owned businesses during the crisis (Doern, 2016). The existing literature on women’s entrepreneurship primarily focuses on the barriers to the growth and performance of women-owned businesses (Ibidunni et al., 2021; Ogundana et al., 2018a). However, there is a scarcity of studies surrounding the survival of women-owned businesses from a crisis perspective (Doern, 2016; Herbane, 2010). There are currently minimal attempts made within the literature to develop a gender-sensitive model that will guide the development of strategies useful for ensuring the sustainable development of women’s entrepreneurial activities before, during, and after a health crisis such as coronavirus. This omission is problematic, especially as the literature suggests that crises are becoming a more prevalent occurrence that

K. Akin-Akinyosoye University of Manchester, Manchester, UK D. Ikhile University of Sussex, Sussex, UK D. Omodara Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

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affects business activities, and responses to such could make a difference between survival and failure (Doern, 2016; Smallbone et al., 1999). The World Health Organization (WHO) (2020) has identified the likelihood of another outbreak of disease, or even a third wave of the COVID 19 pandemic, leading to another global crisis. With the deadline for the 2030 Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) quickly approaching, the United Nations General Assembly has underscored that the next 10 years must be the “decade of action” (UN, 2020) The preparation for a future healthrelated crisis, including the development of a health crisis management model specific to women-owned businesses, will address gender equality (SDG 5) and improve the health and well-being of women entrepreneurs (SDG 3). Therefore, this chapter aims to understand the experiences of women entrepreneurs as they responded to the Coronavirus crisis. Moreover, this study seeks to introduce a gender-sensitive crisis management model to guide the development of strategies that can be useful for ensuring the sustainable development of women’s entrepreneurial activities before, during, and after a health crisis. To understand the experiences of women entrepreneurs in this relatively unexplored area, this study adopts an inductive, phenomenological approach by conducting a case study of 4 women entrepreneurs/owner-managers whose businesses were directly affected by the coronavirus crisis. The interviews captured each woman entrepreneur’s story and produced rich accounts in which to ground theoretical discussions. The main contributions of this study lie in documenting the detailed experiences of the coronavirus crisis from the perspective of women entrepreneurs, addressing gaps in the crisis management literature and illustrating how women-owned businesses can be more resilient and less vulnerable to health-related crises. This chapter examines research on crisis management and its relation to women-owned businesses, social feminist theory, followed by a description of the research context, methodology, a discussion of the findings, and concludes with a consideration of the study’s implications.

Theoretical Framework Businesses are often exposed to crises, including executive kidnapping, plant explosions, natural disasters, industrial crises, riots and health-related crises (Buchanan & Denyer, 2013; Doern, 2016; McEntire et al., 2002). Entrepreneurs are therefore expected to prepare for a crisis, which is an

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integral responsibility of an organisation. Crisis management is defined as the way in which entrepreneurial stakeholders go about minimising the impact of a crisis (Caponigro, 2000; Spillan & Hough, 2003). Crisis management involves entrepreneurship stakeholders’ attempts (i.e., individuals, businesses, communities) to bring a disrupted or weakened system at any stage of the crisis back into alignment (Williams et al., 2017). It has been distinguished from risk management; a concept, in research and practice, described as the approach to identifying potential problems that may negatively impact a business (Barton & Hardigree, 1995; Moore, 2004). In the field of entrepreneurship, few crisis management frameworks exist, which are centred on different forms of crisis, including natural disasters (McEntire et al., 2002; Quarantelli, 1988); industrial crises (Buchanan & Denyer, 2013) and riots (Doern, 2016). However, these frameworks were developed mainly within Western developed countries (including the UK, New Zealand, USA) and may have limited application within the context of developing countries. While existing frameworks provide valuable insights into crisis management for women entrepreneurs, health-related crises require different strategies to provide effective crisis management (Doern, 2016). More importantly, there is a need for a gender-sensitive health-related crisis management framework that will inculcate the uniqueness of women-owned businesses (Brush et al., 2009). Evidence indicates that gender-sensitive frameworks are often more effective and likely to be utilised by women entrepreneurs than those that are gender-neutral (Ogundana et al., 2019; Ogundana, 2020a). A Framework for Health Crisis Management This study aims to test, evaluate, and modify Pearson and Mitroff’s (1993) crisis management framework. We considered the framework particularly useful, especially as it does not relate to any category of crisis and maintains gender-neutrality. Moreover, Pearson and Mitroff’s (1993) crisis management framework is also a routinely cited model in the field of crisis management. However, the framework is mainly developed for large organisations within developed economies and may not capture the uniqueness of small businesses set in developing economies (Doern et al., 2019).

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Pearson and Mitroff’s (1993) crisis management framework offers five phases through which nearly all crises pass—from early warning signals to prevention, through damage containment and business recovery, to organisational learning. The authors described problems and opportunities specific to each phase (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). The framework begins with the signal detection phase, which requires business owners to constantly pay attention to signals indicative of a looming crisis and separate those signals from the barrage of noise that is part of daily business activities. However, business owners might struggle to appropriately separate signals that can lead to an actual crisis or those that will not lead to a global crisis, especially when they are not domiciled in the country where the crisis originated from. For example, the coronavirus crisis started in a small town in China in 2019; it was originally described as a “new virus that humans cannot readily spread” (NYTimes, 2021). However, within a month, it had spread to four other nations, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, and the USA (NYTimes, 2021). On the other hand, there have been instances of diseases such as Malaria that were limited to a region and did not become a global crisis. As such, business owners might struggle to separate the signal of a looming crisis from other signals that are merely illusory. The second part of the framework is the preparation/prevention phase which requires systematic crisis preparedness by businesses and a continuous search for potential solutions to the issues before becoming too big to fix (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). They further explained that the goal of the preparation/prevention phase is to do as much as possible to prevent crises from occurring in the first phase and to prepare to effectively manage those which still occur despite the best efforts being put to prevent them from occurring (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). The preparation/prevention stage includes creating crisis teams and crisis training and simulation exercises (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). With regard to health crises, a business owner would struggle to prevent a naturally occurring crisis (WHO, 2020). Thorgren and Williams (2020) proposed that the ineffectiveness of preparedness before the occurrence of a health crisis can be attributed to the unpredictable and scarce nature of the crises. However, the WHO (2020) suggested that the cost of doing nothing is unaffordable to entrepreneurs. The third phase is damage containment, and it focuses on developing plans for limiting the adverse effects of the crisis on an organisation. Pearson and Mitroff (1993) explained that those businesses which are

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better prepared for crises devote time and resources to ensure that damage containment mechanisms and procedures are in place and effective. Thorgren and Williams (2020) explained that business owners could adopt damage containment strategies such as cost reduction, increasing revenues, and innovation. The authors explained that damage containment measures are more likely to have positive psychological and organisational outcomes in the long term (Thorgren & Williams, 2020). However, since there are numerous categories of crises that require different damage containment measures, it could be expensive, if not impossible, to prepare measures in advance to manage the adverse impacts of the crisis (Doern, 2016). This would amount to a waste of resources, especially where the need for such a measure never arises. In some cases, entrepreneurs may not take damage containment measures to mitigate the adverse effects of a crisis, exiting instead or carrying on in a “business as usual” fashion—for example, when the crisis is macroeconomic rather than an environmental jolt, and businesses are at early stages of the start-up process (Davidsson & Gordon, 2016; Doern et al., 2019). Besides, damage containment mechanisms and activities could be difficult/impossible to invent during the heat of a crisis (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). Fourthly is the recovery phase, which requires businesses to possess short-term and long-term recovery programmes (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). These procedures address the following kinds of issues: (a) what are the minimal procedures and operations that an entrepreneur needs to recover and conduct normal businesses? (b) what are the key activities and tasks that an entrepreneur must perform to serve their most important customers? Business recovery also entails establishing alternative sites such as those needed for computer operations and data backup (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). A key limitation of the business recovery phase is a lack of clarity regarding whether to employ these recovery strategies before, during, or after a crisis. In addition to that, there is little information on how this stage can be applied. Finally, the Learning phase, which completes the crisis management framework, refers to adequate reflection and critical examination of the lessons learned from experiencing a crisis (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). Organisations examine the factors that enabled them to perform well versus those that inhibited their performance. It is important that they do so without assigning blame so that all pertinent information, both positive and negative, can be unveiled. Pearson and Mitroff (1993) stressed that the focus of the entrepreneurs in this phase is not to search

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for scapegoats but to emphasise the improvement of future capabilities and the fixing of current problems. They described it as “no-fault learning”. Pearson and Mitroff’s (1993) crisis management framework offers useful insights into crisis management, and it represents a steppingstone for the theoretical development of a model for women entrepreneurship. However, the framework is not clear at what stage in the crisis each strategy should be applied. For instance, it is not clear whether women entrepreneurs should put in place recovery strategies for their businesses before, during, or after a crisis. Besides, existing studies are largely unclear regarding what stage their study represents (Doern et al., 2019). According to Buchanan and Denyer (2013), there is a tendency in research to study only part of the sequence of the crisis, while an understanding of crises would be greatly enhanced if strategies can be adequately delineated clearly within the phase of the crises they relate to. Thus, this study tests, evaluates, and modifies Pearson and Mitroff’s (1993) crisis management framework to become that which applies to women-owned businesses in a developing country context. Theory of Social Feminism and the Need for Gender-Sensitive Frameworks The social feminist theory assumes that, due to differences in early and ongoing socialisation, the needs of women differ significantly from those of their male counterparts (Fischer et al., 1993; Manolova et al., 2012; Ogundana et al., 2018b). These gender differences are further reflected in business operations (Coleman et al., 2019; Ogundana, 2020a). According to the social feminism theory, women are not inherently inferior to men, but they behave and develop differently compared to their male counterparts ( Elizabeth & Baines, 1998; Jaggar, 1988). The differences between women and men are derived from the diverse socio-cultural experiences they are each exposed to from birth (Gunnerud, 1997; Ogundana et al., 2019). The literature on gender often associates female and male socio-cultural experiences with the socialist processes embedded in family settings, societal, cultural, and economic values (Fischer et al., 1993). In other words, female and male socio-cultural experiences are “constructed and negotiated within a historical, social and geographical context and accomplished through praxis” (Gunnerud, 1997; p. 266). This societal praxis generally encourages women to possess gentleness, sensitivity,

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compassion, submissiveness, and deference (Elise, 1997; Elizabeth & Baines, 1998; Verheul et al., 2006). Such traits often shape the meaning attached by women to entrepreneurship (Fischer et al., 1993; Manolova et al., 2012; Ogundana et al., 2021; Weber & Geneste, 2014). Eddleston and Powell (2008) acknowledge that gender traits form women’s behaviours and the meaning they attach to entrepreneurship. Moreover, the social feminist theory further proposes that feminine attributes shape the way women entrepreneurs manage the ventures they establish (Verheul & Thurik, 2001). Existing research in social psychology suggests that male entrepreneurs are more often motivated by financial and instrumental concerns, while women are more often motivated by relational and social concerns (Smith, 1990). Thus, based on the social feminist perspective, we propose that the crisis management framework for women entrepreneurs will differ from their male counterparts. The Research Context Among the 36 states in Nigeria, Lagos is the most populated, with an estimated population of about 25.6 million people, according to the most recent population statistics (Lagos Bureau of Statistics, 2019). About 49.3% of this population is made up of women, representing the most significant number of women in Nigeria (Statista, 2021). Despite its small size, it is the economic hub of Nigeria and the West African sub-region (Filani, 2012; Mamodu et al., 2019). Lagos State is labelled “Africa’s model megacity” and is considered the preferred destination for businesses, industries, and investment (Ibidunni et al., 2021; Mamodu et al., 2019). A survey conducted in 2017 by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that Lagos State has the largest share of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria, contributing 11.5% of the national figure. Similarly, Lagos also accounts for a substantial number of businesses owned by women, accounting for more than 15% of the national figure (SMEDAN, 2017), supporting its selection as the context for this research study. Entrepreneurial-owned businesses play a significant role in employment generation in Lagos, with around 70% of the workforce currently employed by small and medium-sized businesses (Mamodu et al., 2019). Furthermore, the private sector is considered the main engine of economic growth as they contribute a large proportion of Nigeria’s GDP, which is primarily generated from Lagos (Igwe

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et al., 2018; Ogundana, 2020a). These figures may be more when considering the issue of missing data that is often reported as a limitation of research conducted within the African continent, especially Nigeria (Igwe & Icha-Ituma, 2020). Together, we propose that finding a lasting solution to crisis management in this setting will influence the performance of women-owned businesses, which could subsequently stabilise the job market in these areas during times of crisis.

Methodology This study utilised a case study approach (Siggelkow, 2007) to evaluate and modify an existing framework to develop a gender-sensitive crisis management model. In this study, four women entrepreneurs were interviewed, and their responses provided the basis for the research findings (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007). An interpretive approach to the women entrepreneurs’ responses was used to unravel how the coronavirus crisis impacted their businesses and their approaches to manage the crisis. Moreover, through the interview process, we sought to illuminate the abstract concepts within Pearson and Mitroff’s (1993) crisis management framework; while introducing gender-related “bins” into the model (Miles & Huberman, 1984). Finally, based on an existing theoretical crisis management framework, an abductive approach was employed to assess the applicability of the five-stage crisis management framework, proposed earlier in this chapter, in the Nigerian context (Grove & Gray, 2018). Data Collection We conducted telephone interviews between May and June 2020 with four women entrepreneurs who were owners of businesses in Lagos State, Nigeria. The semi-structured telephone interviews were a convenient means of collecting data due to the movement restrictions during that period to control the spread of the coronavirus (Dyer, 2020; Omodara et al., 2020). Prior to the interview session, verbal consent to participate in the study was obtained from each participant (Saunders et al., 2016). The research team reached a consensus that the included questions were understandable, unambiguous, and could elicit the type of responses that were required for this study (Collis & Hussey, 2014). In addition, an interview guide was developed to ensure consistency across the interview process (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007). The interviews lasted between

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30 and 60 min. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed by the authors. By doing that, the authors were able to immerse themselves in the data before analysing it (Saunders et al., 2016). The main limitation of this study was the small number of women entrepreneurs interviewed. However, the study offers rich, detailed, and context-specific information that was used to extend an existing framework. Data Analysis All the interviews were transcribed into Microsoft word-processed text to facilitate the extraction of meaning from the qualitative data (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Watson & McGowan, 2019). The subsequent analysis of data unfolded in two dimensions: within and across the cases (Yin, 2009). To investigate how the coronavirus crisis impacted each womenowned business and the individual strategies each case adopted to manage the adverse impacts of the crisis, thematic analysis was performed across the cases using the NVivo software. Data-driven codes were assigned to segments of the data, ranging from one sentence to multiple paragraphs, based on the criteria of capturing the richest level of description and context (Braun & Clarke, 2006). These codes were rigorously analysed and categorised under overarching “a priori” themes derived from Pearson and Mitroff’s (1993) crisis management framework. The themes and codes were analysed further to unravel the connections and interrelationships between them. These interconnections were confirmed following consensus by the research team using quotes provided within the transcript to make sure that the connections work for the primary source materials—the actual words of the participants.

Findings Within Case Analysis Case 1/Respondent 1 The first case is a business that engages in interior decorations and the delivery of surprise gifts within Lagos State. For the interior decoration services, the business handles tasks such as selecting colour schemes, purchasing new design items, arranging furniture layouts, and hanging wall arts in homes and offices. For the delivery of surprise gifts, the business delivers surprise gifts to any part of Lagos State. During the crisis,

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the owner-manager explained that the business’s sales dwindled due to lockdown regulations and restrictions on social interactions. She further explained that the coronavirus has dramatically affected her business performance and that the business experienced a decline in the proportion of customers requesting her services. The business had also been unable to source materials for interior decorations because of Government regulations that limited their ability to import materials from other countries such as China. In order to manage the impact of the crisis, she mentioned that while contact was maintained with all her customers during the crisis, only a few had patronised the business. By maintaining a line of communication with her customers, she was able to retain customer loyalty, which prevented them from switching to her competitors during and after the crisis. The business also utilised and sought potential customers using online platforms (such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) to locate new customers. The business also took steps to identify other modes of operation that would compensate for the reduction in sales that she has encountered. Case 2/Respondent 2 Case 2 is a business involved in multiple industry sectors, including property management and the oil sector. For the property management arm, the business is involved in buying, selling, and letting properties on behalf of its clients. The oil sector arm deals with the buying and selling of fuel brands, including petrol, diesel, and kerosene. Both segments of the group business are based in Lagos State. The business has nine employees, excluding the female business owner. According to the owner-manager, the coronavirus crisis has adversely impacted each of the business segments. For instance, during the coronavirus crisis, the property management arm was closed due to Government imposed lockdown regulations which required that non-essential services remain shut. As such, the business continued to incur operating expenses (such as wages and salaries, and rent) for the property management segment, but with little or no commensurate revenue from that segment. For the oil sector arm, the fuel station remained open but in a restricted fashion (open between 9 am and 2 pm) due to the essential nature of the service provided. However, because of the restrictions on movement (including interstate) and social gatherings, the fuel station experienced a drop in the sales of petrol. Sales of petrol needed to

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power electricity generating sets were a vital determinant of the income generated within the oil sector of the business. Case 3/Respondent 3 Case 3 is a supermarket offering a wide variety of foodstuffs, beverages, and household products, organised into sections. The business currently employs 11 members of staff (including the business owner) and the majority of items sold are primarily imported from other countries, including the United Kingdom. Although supermarkets were allowed to remain open during the coronavirus crisis; she described a significant decline in sales. Moreover, the coronavirus crisis impacted her ability to import goods from other countries, primarily due to the owner-manager not being able to travel due to local, national, and international travel restrictions. She also disclosed that the wholesalers that supplied her supermarket were shut. During the pandemic, the supermarket incurred additional operating costs that included the cost of providing employees with face masks and hand sanitisers. The business owner also explicitly described a lack of government support during the pandemic. Case 4/Respondent 4 Case 4 is a mobile kitchen that provides event catering services, preparing fresh food at the venue. The respondent also delivers packed food when customers order it. All the catering services are carried out in the mobile truck that is fixed with all the kitchen equipment required to prepare and serve dishes, including an oven, freezer, fridge, and a power generating set. She said that her business model is motivated by the desire to reduce infrastructural costs such as rent, which is often a high cost in the catering business. She further explained the business advantages of this model regarding being able to offer cheaper catering services compared to her competitors. In addition to that, the business often generates additional income from letting out the mobile kitchen to outsiders. The business possesses five mobile kitchen trucks, three permanent staff (including the business owner), and around 20 zero-hour contract staff, who are only called for work when needed. The owner-manager said that lockdown regulations had reduced the number of parties/social functions that were ongoing during the period. The respondent estimated that she lost at least ₦1 Million ($2,424.24) a month, subsequently reducing her repayment ability. She explained

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that the monetary value of her debt was worth around ₦20 Million ($48,484.85). She captured succinctly: I tell you till date, many of our customers have not been able to repay their debt. Oh, and I am talking about up to today, I am talking about like 20 million (Naira).

Across Case Analysis The coronavirus pandemic adversely impacted all the businesses included in this study. Therefore, to manage the crisis, we analysed the findings using the theoretical concepts from Pearson and Mitroff (1993): Signal Detection At this phase, women entrepreneurs are required to constantly pay attention to signals indicative of a looming health crisis and separate those signals from the barrage of noise that is part of daily business activities (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). In this study, all the respondents were aware of the coronavirus crisis when it commenced in China in December 2019. However, all the women entrepreneurs explained that they did not pay attention to the signals but largely ignored them. All the women entrepreneurs explained that they assumed that the coronavirus crisis or its associated impacts would not get to Nigeria, and as such, they did not take any action in preparing. This explanation was captured succinctly by Respondents 1 and 4, respectively: yeah, we heard about it when it was in China. We were all watching it on TV and feeling like it will not get to Nigeria. China is far. But we did not prepare for it. We did not know it was going to hit us this hard. But since it has happened, I know that it is going to change our mindset (respondent 1). Well, it is like I spoke to people in the past that I used to feel this is going to be a short-time thing. You know that this time will pass soon (respondent 4).

All the respondents stated that the adverse impacts of the coronavirus on their business performance would be lower if they had paid attention to the signals of the looming crisis before the virus reached Nigeria. This indicates that the signalling phase is crucial for women entrepreneurs, especially when the health crisis is still at the early phase

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of transmission. However, the problem of separating a looming crisis from the barrage of noise remains. According to Pearson and Mitroff (1993), women entrepreneurs should attempt to separate these two categories of signals which might be challenging to achieve. Perhaps, women entrepreneurs should give credence to every looming health crisis, especially because every communicable health-related disease has the potential to metamorphose into a crisis. As such, women entrepreneurs should pay attention to health-related issues that have the potential to become crises. Entrepreneurs should pay attention to all health-related problems and prepare for them just in case they become a crisis. Preparation/Prevention The preparation phase requires women entrepreneurs to prepare for the health crisis systematically and continuously search for potential breaks before they are too big to fix (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). In addition to preparing for the crisis, it is recommended that they also prevent the crisis. With regard to the coronavirus crisis, all the respondents suggested that the coronavirus is a natural occurrence and that they had no power to prevent it from occurring and or even to stop its adverse impacts on their business enterprises. This agrees with Thorgren and Williams (2020), who described health-related crises as unpredictable, rare, and difficult to stop from occurring. However, all the women entrepreneurs mentioned that the only aspect they could protect against the adverse impact of the crisis is themselves and possibly their staff and customers by providing protective gear. It is crucial that women entrepreneurs protect themselves from being affected by the health crisis, especially as the coronavirus pandemic was highly contagious and detrimental. The ill-health or death of the women entrepreneur could have a more significant adverse impact on their businesses than the crisis itself. None of the respondents prepared for the crisis after being notified of its initial outbreak. Again, this is primarily due to assumptions made by the women entrepreneurs who explained that they thought that the virus would not get to Nigeria and that the virus crisis was to be resolved quickly. Respondent 4 stated this expressly: Well, it is like I spoke to people in the past that I used to feel this is going to be a short-time thing. You know that this time will pass soon. Not knowing that. So, in April we, we were not doing anything.

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Preparatory strategies were eventually made by respondents 1, 3, and 4 once they realised that the crisis would last longer than expected. For instance, one of the respondents mentioned that it took over two months for her to prepare for the crisis’s impacts. The respondents all agreed that the delay increased the adverse impacts of the crisis on their business performance. Containment/Damage Limitation At the containment/damage limitation phase, women entrepreneurs are expected to focus on developing plans for limiting the adverse effects of the crisis on their businesses. Unfortunately, many women-owned businesses did not quickly develop any damage containment measures, with some of the respondents waiting for more than two months after the initial outbreak of the crisis. As a result, they experienced significant losses that could have been avoided if they had taken concrete steps earlier. Two months after the initial Covid-19 outbreak, all the women entrepreneurs adapted their business operations to ensure their business viability and sustainability. For instance, respondents 1, 3, and 4 have all adopted the use of the internet as a way through which their customers can order their products and services, subsequently allowing continued sales via these platforms. Respondent 4 also changed her business model by delivering her products to customers’ homes: So, we decided to start, um, delivery of food. So, now what we started doing now is like, um, an online thing, we send out menu for soup, rice, moi moi, so many things. So, people order, and we only deliver on Fridays. So, that was what we started early this month (Respondent 4).

All the women entrepreneurs agreed that those damage containment measures (the move of their businesses online and home deliveries) effectively curtailed the adverse impacts of the crisis. However, Respondents 1, 2, and 4 wished that they had implemented these damage containment measures as soon as the crisis started. However, unlike Pearson and Mitroff (1993), who stated that it is difficult/impossible to invent damage containment activities during the heat of a crisis, all the women entrepreneurs did not find this problematic. In their view, they considered their responses to the crisis as part of their daily business activities, which they were used to doing.

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All the women entrepreneurs mentioned that damage containment measures should also be developed by other entrepreneurship stakeholders, including policymakers, especially during a health crisis. According to Smallbone and Welter (2001), policymakers could develop damage containment measures, including macroeconomic policies targeted at interest rates and taxation. However, all the women entrepreneurs stated that they received no support from the Nigerian Government, and they were not aware of the existence of such supports targeted at containing the potential damage that the crisis could cause. For instance, respondent 1 stated that: I have not heard anything like that oh. If there is any, I do not know; I have not heard. You know you hear all these things. The Government will tell you; they are doing this; they are doing that. Maybe they are doing it for ghosts; I do not know. But I have not seen anybody that has told me that I have received anything from Government. I have to be sincere.

All the participants confirmed the concern. Recovery The next phase is the recovery stage, where businesses possess programmes of short-term and long-term business recovery (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). A large proportion of the women entrepreneurs in this study stated that their businesses had put in place some recovery measures, such as adapting their business models to fit the present social distancing regulations. For instance, in her business, respondent 4 stated that she changed her business model to that where customers could patronise her business through an online platform. However, in the post-crisis stage, respondent 4 stated that she intended to continue to operate both the physical and the online platforms to recover after the crisis. Moreover, many of the women entrepreneurs had chosen a recovery plan where they intended to build on existing customer loyalties. In that regard, respondent 4 stated that: “your former customers that know you, that know what you cook, and they enjoy your food, you just have to reach out to them and make them trust you”

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These commentaries suggest that at the recovery phase, women-owned businesses are able to continue their business operations from where they stopped before the crisis. In addition, two of the women entrepreneurs had decided to set up new businesses as extensions of their existing businesses. Learning Learning, the last phase of the crisis management framework, refers to adequate reflection and critical examination of the lessons learned from experiencing a crisis (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). All the sampled women entrepreneurs stated that they had learned from the occurrence of the coronavirus crisis. Notably, all the women entrepreneurs stated that they had learned to be quick to act in the occurrence of another crisis. They stated that the adverse impacts of the crisis would have been inconsequential if they had prepared and responded as soon as they had identified the signs of its existence. Furthermore, two of the women entrepreneurs believed that the occurrence of a health crisis is also an opportunity for their businesses to reposition themselves and expand their range of activities. In addition to that, all the women entrepreneurs stated that the pandemic proved to be a learning experience throughout the crisis. For instance, at the signal phase, all the women agreed that it was essential to pay attention to the signals of future health-related crises. This is different from Pearson and Mitroff (1993), who suggested that businesses learned mainly after recovering. Thus, the evidence shows that women entrepreneurs can learn throughout the period of a crisis rather than during a particular phase. In addition, contrary to Pearson and Mitroff (1993), who stated that the learning phase could sometimes reopen old wounds, all the women believed that their reflections on the happenings during the crisis enabled them to better plan for future crises.

Discussion The purpose of this chapter is to introduce a gender-sensitive crisis management model that will guide the development of policies that can lead to the sustainable development of women’s entrepreneurship before, during, and after the coronavirus crisis in the context of a developing country. By doing that, this study aims to mitigate the issue of gender inequality (SDG 5) that often impacts the growth of womenowned businesses (Ogundana, 2020a, b). Like Omodara et al. (2020),

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the coronavirus crisis impacted women-owned businesses mainly in the form of business closure, limited business hours, reduced proportion of patronage, decreased sales turnover, and employee demotivation. While this study does not have the rigour of a natural scientific design, it is particularly valuable for inspiring new ideas, illustrating abstract concepts, and theory building (Easterby-Smith et al., 2018; Yin, 2013). Each business recorded various degrees of adverse impact due to the coronavirus crisis, irrespective of whether the business was classified as being essential or non-essential. For instance, respondent 2 discussed that while the property management arm of her enterprise was shut, the fuel arm continued to operate due to its essential nature. Our findings suggest that the crisis management strategy can be categorised under the “pre-crisis”, “during the crisis”, and “post-crisis” phases (Doern, 2016). The pre-crisis phase requires women entrepreneurs to pay attention and detect signs of an emerging health-related crisis (see Fig 8.1). Although many women entrepreneurs ignored the early signal of the crisis, it was crucial to their preparedness for incidents that occurred “during the crisis”. The second phase of the crisis, “during the crisis” requires women entrepreneurs to prepare and establish damage containment strategies. Contrary to Pearson and Mitroff (1993), this phase requires both policymakers and women entrepreneurs to prepare and put in place damage containment measures to reduce the adverse impacts of the crisis. Additionally, in contrast with Pearson and Mitroff (1993), it is difficult, if not impossible, for women entrepreneurs and policymakers to prepare for a health-related crisis at the “pre-crisis” phase of that category of crisis. This is because the implications and resulting actions from entrepreneurship stakeholders (including policymakers) are mainly unpredictable during a health-related crisis. Moreover, the way healthrelated crises have unfolded over the years and their implications for business performances has varied widely. As such, preparation is more likely to be effective “during the crisis” where women entrepreneurs and policymakers have adequate information that could enable them to better prepare for the crisis and establish effective damage containment measures. However, based on our findings, the Nigerian Government failed to prepare and establish damage containment measures during the crisis. The Nigerian Government had advertised in the media that they had established measures for damage containment (KPMG, 2021). However, no real measures were made available to the public (Omodara et al., 2020). This is supported in our current work reported here, where

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none of the female entrepreneurs reported receiving government aid during the pandemic period. Moving from “preparation” to “damage containment” is more iterative (Fig. 8.1), especially when government responses to the crisis are fluid and unstable, as was experienced in the context of this study. As such, the preparation and damage containment measures might continue to change as new information emerges and women entrepreneurs ought to be ready to respond and modify their strategies when such information becomes available. During the postcrisis phase, businesses attempt to recover from the adverse impact of the crisis (Fig. 8.1). Women entrepreneurs in our study developed strategies, including building on existing customer loyalty and diversifying their businesses, to enable their businesses to recover from the adverse impacts of the crisis. On recovery, it is essential to pay attention to signs of other crises. Contrary to Pearson and Mitroff (1993), we identified from our findings that women entrepreneurs “learn” throughout the crisis period—from the pre-crisis to the post-crisis phase. This learning influences and shapes their actions throughout the crisis. Moreover, women entrepreneurs must continue gathering information throughout the crisis phase to prepare effectively and establish adequate damage containment measures.

Fig. 8.1 Gender-related crisis management framework (Source Adopted from Pearson and Mitroff [1993] and modified for this research)

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Conclusion The chapter has focused on evaluating an existing crisis management framework and represents it as a gender-sensitive model for managing crises in women’s entrepreneurial businesses. Clear evidence was found demonstrating that women entrepreneurs can manage a health-related crisis by establishing crisis management strategies for their businesses at the “pre-crisis”, “during the crisis”, and “post-crisis” phases. The information women gather, and their experiences should guide the development of these strategies at each phase. This finding offers practical insights that women entrepreneurs and other stakeholders (including policymakers) could adopt to manage the adverse impacts of a healthrelated crisis. For example, women entrepreneurs should pay attention and detect signs of an emerging health-related crisis in order to develop timely strategies for the three phases of the crisis. For policymakers, it proposes that, during a health-related crisis, an additional support system should be established for women entrepreneurs in the developing economies, especially as they are likely to encounter additional burdens arising from their motherhood responsibilities. Policymakers should also include women entrepreneurs in developing support systems for womenowned businesses during a health-related crisis (SDG 5). By doing that, women-owned businesses are more likely to survive or experience growth during a health-related crisis (UN, SDG 8). This study makes significant contributions to the literature on crisis management by aligning those crisis management strategies to different phases of a crisis. The small sample size can weaken the findings of this study, and the effectiveness of the framework proposed should be confirmed in a larger population. However, this study makes up for this suggested weakness by offering rich, detailed, and context-specific information that has proved useful for extending an existing framework. As such, the study offers only theoretical generalisations which future researchers can test.

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CHAPTER 9

The Role of African Entrepreneurship in Promoting Gender Equality and Increasing Resilience and Agility in Uncertain Times Ruth N. Kiraka

Introduction International Trade Centre/International Labour Organisation (ITCILO) (2020) suggests that governments could be losing up to six percent of GDP owing to gender inequality. International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (2020), notes that the Covid-19 crisis has further exposed structural gender barriers and entrenched gender inequalities. The pandemic is expected to hit women the hardest, as was evidenced from previous pandemics, including the Ebola crisis in West Africa, that women suffered greater economic losses. For example, when Guinea suffered from the Ebola crisis in 2014, it caused a general

R. N. Kiraka (B) Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_9

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economic setback, where poverty was said to be on average 20% higher than countries with comparable levels of economic development. The country’s capacity to provide basic financial services was greatly affected, especially the microfinance institutions that provide significant access to finance to women (African Centre for Economic Transformation [ACET], 2019). The Covid-19 pandemic has therefore reinforced the need for urgent action on gender equality. The IDRC (2020) identified a number of ways in which the Covid19 pandemic is affecting women in East Africa. First, three-quarters of informal businesses in East Africa are owned by women, who have no job protection, and their incomes take longer to recover as they have lower access to formal credit and rely on the family network for finance. Second, increased violence against women has also been witnessed, fuelled by job losses, financial stress, and restrictions on movement. The added burden of unpaid care work has further compounded gender-based vulnerabilities. Third, gender segregation in occupations has affected the rate at which women and men lost their jobs during the pandemic. For example, women’s dominance in hospitality, education, and childcare services has resulted in many of them losing jobs as these sectors have scaled-down operations. Fourth, female-dominated occupations especially with regard to care for the sick have been characterised as “essential”, meaning that women’s work may expose them to a greater risk of Covid-19 infection and work-related stress. Fifth, those female-dominated occupations that allow employees to work from home such as Call Centres and provision of online education may be especially emotionally challenging and stressful, as the women try to balance their domestic duties with working from home (IDRC, 2020). Sixth, rather than merely adopting a temporary solution to the pandemic, the increase in telecommuting may lead to long-term changes in job flexibility and possibly place an even greater burden on women, who may face more difficulties balancing paid work and family obligations while telecommuting. This multiplicity of challenges suggests that responses to the pandemic must take gender into account (ITCILO, 2020). This chapter examines how African women entrepreneurs have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and identifies policies and practices to mitigate its impacts and sustain their enterprises during and after the pandemic. The chapter also examines interventions that seek to promote gender equality. These interventions also benefit African nations in their quest to achieve the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 5 (gender equality) and Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

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The African Women Entrepreneurs and Covid-19 Looking specifically at entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurs tend to largely occupy the informal sector. According to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Survey conducted in Kenya in 2016, women engaged in low-value microenterprises in retail, tourism, domestic services, manufacture of wearing apparel and food production. These are economic activities with low technological intensity but are labour intensive. Retail trade accounted for 90.6% of establishments in the wholesale and retail trade, while food and beverage service activities accounted for 88.6% of the establishments in the accommodation and food services sector (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics [KNBS], 2016). According to ILO (2020) the accommodation and food services sector is characterised by low pay and a relatively large share of female workers. Overall, women own over 60% of informal businesses, often steered by survival rather than business opportunities (KNBS, 2020). In Tanzania, women smallholder farmers produced an estimated 80% of the country’s cash crops, yet, about 60% of them live in absolute poverty (Nziku & Henry, 2021). In Zambia, over 52% of entrepreneurial ventures are owned by women. Yet, like in many other African countries, Zambian women entrepreneurs start businesses because of economic hardships at home. This contributes to the push factor in the economy, which includes unemployment, insecurity, and lack of alternatives for earning income (Malama, 2015). This suggests that African women continue to run small informal low-value businesses, despite making up over 50% of enterprises in several African countries. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected women-owned enterprises in numerous ways. First, the informal enterprises lack the legal and social protections that can help women to weather the economic impacts of the pandemic. Many women have lost their livelihoods and the means to support their families. For example, more than half of women working in Kenya’s horticultural export industry have lost their jobs (KNBS, 2020). Women conduct over 70% of trade at border crossings in East Africa. The closing of borders has affected this trade. Lockdowns have also curtailed women’s trade in open-air markets (IDRC, 2020). Second, supply-chain disruptions mean that many women smallholder farmers who constitute over 50% in the African continent, lack seeds, fertilisers, and other farm inputs for planting and harvesting. This adds to their burdens as supply chains and routes to markets must be rethought. Business operations continue to be greatly affected as value chains are

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disrupted. Consequently, women entrepreneurs are struggling to survive (IDRC, 2020). Third, although several countries in Africa have opened to business after the 2020 lockdowns and closure of schools, there are still instances of intermittent lockdowns dictated by the spread of the pandemic. In March 2021, for example, Kenya imposed a lockdown in its central counties (Presidential Strategic Communications Unit, 2021), as did Rwanda in April 2021 (Iliza, 2021) and Uganda in June 2021 (Oduor, 2021). Zambia was contemplating similar measures after experiencing a spike in infections in May 2021 (Ministry of Health Zambia, 2021). Such closures continue to affect businesses and have resulted in many women being unable to run their businesses consistently, especially when such lockdowns have resulted in school closures. Fourth, owing to the dominance of women entrepreneurs in the services and low manufacturing sectors, they have suffered significant losses. On the demand side, there have been declining orders and reduced consumption as the hospitality industry is on reduced capacity to take care of the need for social distancing. Supplies of foodstuffs, cleaning services, catering services, and others to restaurants, hotels, airlines, and schools, have continued to be uncertain, leaving these enterprises, many of which are owned by women to struggle to survive. This has led to liquidity and cash flow problems and staff lay-offs. Fifth, business strategies have also had to change. In May 2021, the agribusiness entrepreneurs in Kenya started to venture into agro-tourism by converting their farm homes into guesthouses (Mutinda, 2021). This mindset shift requires both an assessment of the opportunities of the new venture and the skills to operationalise the venture into a profitable enterprise. It also requires a reassessment of assumptions and strengthening of the ability of the entrepreneur to sense and respond to new changes as they occur. These are skills that many entrepreneurs lack. Sixth, customer habits have drastically changed, forcing enterprises to reevaluate the way they communicate with customers. For example, a lot of purchasing has moved online, so the entrepreneur must start to reimagine how they will interact with the customers online, how goods and services will be delivered, how to ensure relevant customer experience, and how digital channels can be used to support business continuity through the crisis and beyond. This requires some tech-savviness which many women entrepreneurs, especially the older ones, may lack (ITCILO, 2020).

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Seventh, is the impact on the workforce. Small businesses are experiencing unprecedented workforce disruption. This includes social distancing, working from home, and the supervision of staff working remotely. Yet, productivity is expected to remain the same or even be higher (ITCILO, 2020). For the woman entrepreneur with employees working remotely, not only does she need to run the business, amidst the work–family life balance she has to ensure, but she now has the added responsibility of supervising workers remotely, a skill she is unlikely to possess, assuming she is able to retain the workers (Adisa et al., 2021). For informal enterprises, there is no job protection for the employees, making it difficult for the entrepreneur to keep or even rehire the workers when the situation improves (ITCILO, 2020). Eighth, even in the best of times, women-owned enterprises have always struggled with access to finance owing to lack of traditional collateral, and at times requirement for spouse approval before taking a loan. The pandemic has further exacerbated this challenge as enterprises are faced with plummeting revenues and increased costs. Where the women have been able to take loans from microfinance institutions, this is also at risk, as they are losing money in their businesses, making them highrisk borrowers resulting in either being denied loans or having to pay high-interest rates. Further, any interventions to respond to the pandemic may require key investments in technologies, processes, and people, thus requiring even more financing (Villaseca et al., 2020). Ninth, a study by Ngugi (2020) showed that among the MSMEs in Nairobi, Kenya, only about 30% of female entrepreneurs could claim to be tech-savvy with regard to running their businesses. Even before Covid-19, many of them faced several Information Technology (IT)-related challenges. Now the pandemic is pushing MSMEs to rapidly operate in new ways and there is a need to accelerate high digital transformation in order to survive. IT is impacting all business operations—marketing, reaching and delivering a superior customer experience, debt collection, and so on. MSMEs must develop new ways of doing business through IT. Overall, the effect of the pandemic is far-reaching because it is impacting entire industries, for example, aviation, hospitality, tourism, retail of non-essential goods and services, all with varying degrees of severity (Alonso et al., 2021). Because women entrepreneurs are found in various stages of the value chains in all industries, many have suffered great losses or shut down altogether. For many of these women-owned enterprises, their small size and informality mean that they lack cash

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reserves, and loss of income even for a week may push the entrepreneur, her family, and any employees depending on the business, to below subsistence level (Villaseca et al., 2020). There is little evidence that women will move out of these traditional informal activities or diversify the types of enterprises they engage in without significant interventions (IDRC, 2020).

Key Policies and Practices to Mitigate the Impacts and Sustain MSMEs During and After the Pandemic As African countries work to restore health and livelihoods, they must also find ways to advance gender equality while creating economic opportunities. Interventions must be determined both at policy and practice levels. This section discusses both the policy and practice interventions being sought by various African governments.

Covid-19 Pandemic Policy Interventions to Support Women Entrepreneurs From a country’s point of view, African governments need to recognise the short-term nature of the crisis. Covid-19 may continue to be with us for a long time, but we will not always be in crisis mode. As such, it is important to have a long-term view of the MSME sector. Taking cognisance of the role of the MSME sector in providing jobs and creating wealth in any economy, the initiatives by governments must support this significant sector. It is fair to say that the pandemic has affected all MSMEs. However, as has been highlighted above, womenowned enterprises are at a greater threat. The interventions proposed here must, therefore, be interpreted using a gender lens and intersectionality. In other words, first, interventions must be gender-sensitive, and second, even within the female gender, women entrepreneurs are not homogenous. Therefore, interventions must take into account geographical areas (urban versus rural), socio-economic status, educational levels, family backgrounds, and economic activities of different women entrepreneurs in determining interventions (IDRC, 2020).

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Grandy et al. (2020) and ITCILO (2020) proposed seven policy and programme areas to support MSMEs to maintain their operations and protect their workforce during the pandemic. i. Food subsidies and necessities: As primary caregivers at home, women have to provide food for their families. Food subsidies would reduce pressure on the meagre enterprise incomes, allowing them to continue with business operations. ii. Cushioning the blow by providing short-term liquidity: The pandemic recovery strategies instituted by a number of African governments such as Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa include financing to MSMEs, credit guarantee schemes, and waiving the costs of operating licences (United Nations Egypt, 2021; Zeufack et al., 2021). Additional measures instituted by the Kenyan Government have included imposing a moratorium on negative reporting, meaning financial institutions were not allowed to report loan defaulters to credit reference bureaus. There was also a reduction in turnover tax from three to one percent, with taxable turnover thresholds increased from an income of US$ 10,000 to US$ 500,000 for MSMEs (Nechifor et al., 2020). These measures, however, need to be sustained for at least two years to allow for business recovery. iii. Keeping productive capacities intact: The Kenyan Government has made efforts to keep the Export Processing Zones (EPZ) as productive as possible by pushing more orders to them, especially those related to healthcare such as production of personal protective equipment (PPEs) and facilities such as additional hospital beds as healthcare facilities have had to increase capacity to deal with the pandemic (Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, 2020). iv. Boosting MSME demand: This includes improving access for MSMEs to public procurement, public investments in large projects that require private sector engagement, and social protection payments to vulnerable sectors of society. Public procurement should be coupled with timely payment to MSMEs in government contracting (Basheka & Auriacombe, 2020). Governments also have the capacity to pass legislation to enforce timely payments by the large private sector firms to the small firms they contract, although this might be more challenging to implement (ITCILO, 2020). v. Maintaining employment: According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) (2020), the Eastern

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Africa region’s labour market has been the worst hit on the continent from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as an estimated 38 million jobs were lost, with economic growth expected at between one and two percent of GDP in 2021. Yet, governments depend on taxpayers to fund a large part of the national budget. As such, it is in the interest of a government to promote policies and practices that contribute to maintaining jobs in the private sector. Measures such as reduction of income tax, deferral of social security contributions, and other taxes related to running businesses instituted in 2020 offered much-needed relief to businesses and individuals in Kenya (Nechifor et al., 2020). However, the measures were shortlived and did not provide sufficient time and relief for businesses to recover. More needs to be done to preserve jobs. vi. Digital transformation: This remains a key driver for turning the economy around. It includes providing subsidies to access broadband internet, making online payments easy and cheap, improving teleworking and collaborative working arrangements, providing access to online education services, and providing subsidies to IT companies to enable them to reach out to as many citizens as possible with affordable services (Kimuli et al., 2021). vii. A time to formalise and regulate: A consistent theme in discussing women’s entrepreneurship and the effects of the pandemic is the informality of their businesses which excludes them from many forms of government initiatives and support. The pandemic might be the stimulus needed to push enterprises to formalise and be included in government recovery and turnaround programmes (Ricketts, 2020). Formalisation would also be consistent with Sustainable Development Goal 8, which advocates for decent work and economic growth. The third target of that goal seeks to promote policies to support job creation and growing enterprises. According to the United Nations (2015) this entails promoting developmentoriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalisation and growth of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services. Inevitably, this would make the enterprises “visible” to government, financial institutions, and other stakeholders that would support their growth and development.

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Business Practices to Support Women Entrepreneurs Through the Covid-19 Pandemic In evaluating practices that may help women entrepreneurs to mitigate against the pandemic and promote gender equality, a three-pronged approach may be needed. First, women’s entrepreneurial activities should enable them to survive through the pandemic and second, these activities should promote sustainability of businesses long after the pandemic is under control. Third, the activities should promote gender equality. Overall, these interventions would also benefit African nations in their quest to achieve UN’s 2030 SDGs, particularly Goal 5 (gender equality) and Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). Let us examine each of these in turn. Surviving Through the Pandemic For entrepreneurial activities to survive through the pandemic, it is important to make urgent financial planning with alternative scenarios, but with prudence. Although the pandemic has hit strongly in 2020 and 2021, businesses expect that they will be a going concern after the pandemic. This suggests that any financial planning and cost-cutting measures need to be undertaken with prudence. Some costs such as rent may be reduced significantly, or even removed by working from home where possible. Taking loans and incurring non-urgent expenses can also be postponed. However, others, such as staff costs, require caution. Some employers are opting for reduced work time or salary cuts rather than outright dismissal, especially for valued workers (ITCILO, 2020). This takes care of both the employee (who may have no other source of income) and the business (that is able to resume operations as soon as it is viable). Women entrepreneurs are particularly considered empathetic when dealing with employees, which may be taken as a weakness during the pandemic, but which may end up being their saving grace as the economies of countries recover. Business continuity planning will help businesses in recovery from the pandemic. This plan is useful in assessing the level of risk and vulnerability of the businesses and developing a contingency plan to mitigate the risks associated with the pandemic. It entails defining (or redefining) key products/services, evaluating the impact of the pandemic on the enterprises and workers, identifying viable actions to protect operations, and

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implementing the plan. The value of this exercise is that it allows the entrepreneur to rethink their products, services and/or business model (Portuguez & Gómez, 2020). An entrepreneur running a restaurant may realise that their business is not simply selling food at their outlet, but can also offer family meal packages, home deliveries, and outside catering. Using business development service (BDS) providers (which in most cases are themselves MSMEs), governments, large private enterprises, and business associations could help MSMEs stay afloat during the crisis and mitigate future problems during other types of crisis (ITCILO, 2020). They could provide cheap loans to help the MSMEs seek the services of BDS that can help to turn their businesses around. Business Partners International (BPI), for example, is helping women-owned enterprises in South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia to recover from the pandemic by providing sectoral knowledge, mentorship, and small loans for their turnaround strategies (BPI, 2021). Protecting workers from infections is critical. Enterprises need to ensure their workers are safe and, as much as possible, prevent infections. Strictly following the simple health protocols of using face masks, washing hands, keeping social and physical distances, sanitising surfaces, and regularly monitoring oxygen levels in one’s blood makes a lot of difference. These are all within the control of enterprises, however small they may be. Women employees who may have to stay at home to take care of sick family members should be supported to work from home or allowed to go for compassionate leave (Webb et al., 2020). Searching for new sources of demand is also gaining momentum. Consumption has fallen in sectors that are not essential in these moments, such as tourism, restaurants, transport, retail, and leisure among others, due to the paralysis of the economy and consumers’ fear of the economic future (Alonso et al., 2021). As previously mentioned, many of these sectors are dominated by women entrepreneurs, especially at the lower end. ITCILO (2020) advises that the 7Ps of marketing are still relevant; entrepreneurs just need to redefine them. Let us consider possible business ideas in each case. • Product: Find what people need and offer it. This may mean having to diversify the product line. For example, a landscape architect may realise that people are making small improvements to their backyards

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to make the home working environment more conducive. They can therefore offer this service. Place: The entrepreneur considers how the product or service of the enterprise gets to the customer, such as home deliveries and online service delivery. If the mode of product/service delivery is going to change, the entrepreneur must consider what infrastructure or business model changes are needed to make this happen. The entrepreneur may, for example, need faster Internet speeds or to partner with a courier firm for home deliveries. Price: The price point must allow the enterprise to turn a profit yet be affordable for customers to be willing to make a purchase. As customers seek to conserve cash, the enterprise focuses on packaging its services in a way that increases willingness to pay. It could be a training programme that is now cheaper and available online, or it may be more flexible payment plans. Promotion: This entails the enterprise informing customers about a product in a way that attracts a purchase. It could be about accessibility, availability, appropriateness, or timeliness. For example, it is very timely to be selling pulse oximeters or digital blood pressure machines which are effective and easy to use at home, and can help caregivers to identify early warning signs and take the sick person to hospital in good time. People: The key staff need to be both knowledgeable and courteous to increase the likelihood of making a sale. Process: This involves making it easy, safe, and fast to place an order, have it filled, and delivered. Physical evidence: In the era of the pandemic, the customers may not visit the business premises. However, if deliveries are made to them, ensure those involved are clean, neat, use clean vehicles, and so on.

It is fair to say that enterprises have always thought about these things; the point here is to evaluate if the existing business model is still relevant and make changes where they are needed. At the end of the day, the entrepreneur wants to retain and grow the customer base and keep them satisfied. Searching for new and non-traditional customers is also becoming possible. Doing business online means that even non-traditional customers can enter the enterprise’s customer bracket. Some of the initiatives here might include finding a distribution partner for the enterprise’s products to new markets or creating a branch with one of the employees from another geographical region. The search for new customers could be

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coupled with diversifying business activities and seeking areas for improvement in terms of quality, cost, and service (Alonso et al., 2021). The new customers may want a product or service tweaked in some way. Presence in the digital world provides an enterprise with clients that they may otherwise not reach, but it should not be assumed that having a digital presence will automatically translate into sales. The 7Ps earlier discussed are still relevant. Digital transformation of enterprises is becoming increasingly important. Sultan and Sultan (2020) found that women-owned MSMEs that had higher digitalisation levels generated more revenues, and were better able to survive during the pandemic, and remain competitive in the market. The rapid pace of technological growth enables MSMEs in all industries to scale up to new markets. Enterprises can look to various areas for increased digitisation—operations, channels, products, and business models. Operations such as administrative processes of billing and book-keeping can be automated. Digital channels like ecommerce and digital marketing can be used to reach existing and new markets (Kimuli et al., 2021). Products/services such as virtual tours, online coaching/mentoring, training on practical skills like physical education, cookery, among others, can all be offered using digital platforms. However, it is important to prioritise as it may not be possible to digitise everything at the same time. As enterprises digitise, teleworking becomes the norm. However, for this to work, employees must have the right tools and clear expectations, which include maintaining boundaries between the job and personal time. Moreover, most critical to teleworking is trust between the employee and employer that productivity and performance will meet expectations. Disrupting the value chains will help businesses cut costs. This includes online sales and home deliveries and is coupled with redesigning the supply chains. For example, in order to cut costs, some service providers are cutting off the middlemen and linking directly with suppliers. Eateries that relied on suppliers to deliver raw foods are finding cheaper alternatives in picking foods from farms or requesting farmers to deliver directly to them. The supply-chain disruptions are resulting in innovative ways of managing businesses (Portuguez & Gómez, 2020). Accessing new lines of credit is also important in surviving the pandemic. Several governments such as those of Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa have developed Covid-19 recovery strategies that include financial support to MSMEs through various financing schemes. This

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provides a viable opportunity for businesses to bounce back (Zeufack et al., 2021). In addition, financial institutions are providing longer moratoria for loan repayments, interest rate adjustments, and loan restructuring to allow businesses conserve cash and use it for recovery efforts (Villaseca et al., 2020). Surviving Beyond the Pandemic As the pandemic comes under control, enterprises will be focusing on recovery and growth. Some of the challenges the enterprises may face include their resilience to survive beyond the pandemic and developing strategies for bouncing back. They will probably also need to consider how fast they can adapt to take advantage of the new challenges, opportunities, and markets. Another challenge will be their readiness to embrace new business models. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed a lot of flaws in what was considered “normal”. What enterprises considered “normal” such as restricting services to the local market, or serving customers only from a physical business location, is now becoming “abnormal” (Kimuli et al., 2021). The global reset dictates that enterprises need to consider going back to the basics, rethinking their business models and coming up with new models to cope with the new normal. The ability of MSMEs to build businesses that stand out in this new environment is within their reach and ability (Alonso et al., 2021). There are various ways of surviving beyond the pandemic. First is taking an ecosystem approach that considers support packages for whole sectors which entails strengthening local value chains and networking among MSMEs (Rashid & Ratten, 2021). For example, a resort in the countryside requires friendly government regulations to attract international visitors (or even domestic ones), taxi companies to bring visitors to the resort, food suppliers to supply fresh foods on time, cleaning services to clean it, and so on. Auxiliary services such as access to healthcare and a safe environment also need to be in place. In the absence of all these, that resort will not capture the value it has the potential to capture. A whole sector approach enhances the ability to be innovative along the value chain. Second, there is the need to focus on financial resources that are aimed not only at temporary liquidity but also at the long-term growth and prosperity of the enterprises. These include both debt and equity financing, insurance, and investment plans. There are also funding opportunities

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specifically for MSMEs coming through financial institutions that are getting into schemes with multilateral agencies to support MSMEs. The African Development Bank (AfDB), for example, made a call for proposals in May 2021 for business enablers to apply for funding to support women entrepreneurs. The initiative dubbed Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), seeks to support enablers to strengthen the business and financial skills as well as wealth-creating capacity of women-owned MSMEs by unlocking US$5 billion in financing by 2026 (AfDB, 2021). In 2021, European Investment Bank (EIB) provided EUR 5 billion for new private and public investments across Africa. Of this, about EUR 1 billion was mobilised for new investments to improve opportunities for women and girls (EIB, 2021). These financial institutions are providing funding to support the recovery and growth of MSMEs. Other alternatives, such as the savings and credit cooperatives, equipment leasing, and credit guarantee schemes, are also available. For the entrepreneur, the point is to be creative in identifying viable financing solutions. Third, some countries are providing support to strategic, hard-hit, green or employment-rich sectors such as the tourism and horticultural subsectors. In 2020, the EIB provided EUR 2.4 billion for private sector investments across Africa. This included new initiatives with local financial partners and microfinance institutions to improve access to finance by smallholder farmers, entrepreneurs, and businesses in Benin, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, and Senegal (EIB, 2021). These and other African countries can consider incentives or promotional campaigns to attract clients in the aftermath of the pandemic, or training and upgrading the skills of the workforce. The period of stoppage and slowdown is often considered as a good opportunity to invest in human resource capacities, supporting reskilling and upskilling of workers, thereby boosting productivity and resilience of MSMEs in the longer term. Concrete measures include providing training subsidies to MSMEs for workers’ participation in training, offering free online trainings, and strengthening and adapting national training systems to the reality of MSMEs, and where necessary, integrating a sectorial perspective. It is important for the social partners to be engaged in the design of skills development schemes and programmes (ITCILO, 2020). Fourth are initiatives to boost demand for MSMEs and support specific sectors or supply chains (e.g., tourism, transport, agribusiness), for instance through promotional campaigns, reward programmes, and a

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search for new processes and markets. On the manufacturing front, this is going back to the roots. The pandemic has exposed external supply chains as being fragile and not as predictable or cost-effective as they were thought to be. It makes business sense to manufacture locally or at least regionally. Governments are in line to promote local manufacturing. In August 2020, for example, the Kenya Government identified a list of 300 items that must be manufactured and procured locally by the government and all government agencies (Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development [MoITED] (2020). Fifth is promoting public investment programmes such as light infrastructure rehabilitation, construction or readaptation of tourism and health facilities, and the supply of new equipment, particularly targeting MSMEs as the service providers. The construction sector in most African countries is labour intensive and has a strong presence of MSMEs. As part of promoting public procurement, governments in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda to name but a few, are investing in the construction of energyefficient housing or supporting local governments in the renovation of infrastructure (Business Monitor International [BMI] Research, 2021a, 2021b, 2021c). Sixth is the need to sustain the digital transformation. A good number of changes being made to businesses during the pandemic will evolve to the new way of working. Digitisation is one of these. It is therefore important for enterprises to monitor and assess progress made towards digitalisation by checking on the achievements and impacts they have made (Kimuli et al., 2021; Shukla et al., 2021). Teleworking that comes with digitisation is seen as beneficial as it reduces commuting time to workplaces, which in some countries like Kenya and Nigeria can be as much as four hours per day, or even longer. However, it does present some challenges that must also be considered. First is the feeling of isolation and detachment from other workers and businesses. Second, in some cases, teleworking may translate to lower pay as employees may be perceived as not being as productive as they might be in the physical workplace. Of course, this is highly debateable. Additionally, home-based enterprises deny entrepreneurs social and job protection, as in some cases they are not considered “serious businesses”, although a number of African countries are trying to have policies to take care of independent workers and entrepreneurs. Ultimately, therefore, looking for opportunities to improve as the capabilities and technologies evolve in the long term will be crucial (Saleh, 2020).

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Seventh, an emerging trend that has been highlighted by the pandemic is employee sharing plans. This refers to instances where some enterprises may have more skilled employees than they need and can share some of these employees with other enterprises with few employees. Rather than each enterprise hiring full-time staff that may not be fully utilised, they can share with other enterprises. A platform that enables employee sharing provides employers with consistent labour and employees fairly stable income. The employee sharing model has been tested in companies in China, Germany, Japan, and the United States. The evidence suggests that the model can be transferred to other countries with necessary contextual adaptations and has the potential to bring mutual benefits to employees and employers by transferring employees’ skills to positions with compatible job tasks. However, policies need to be put in place to support the employees to ensure they do not lose out on benefits associated with full-time employment (Velasco et al., 2021). However, for these and other initiatives to work, MSMEs must know about them or how to access the support available. The government, private sector, financial sector, and NGOs should all ensure that the MSMEs are aware and able to access the opportunities and support. Information could take several forms, including drafting of guides, manuals and awareness materials, web-based information portals, administrative support or business mentoring on the solutions that fit different enterprises according to their sectors and nature of the activity. Promoting Gender Equality Women entrepreneurs are particularly resilient owing to the need to support their families. Evidence from microfinance institutions shows that they are good at loan repayment, suggesting they can take microloans to restart their businesses (Villaseca et al., 2020; World Bank, 2020). Having business portals that link MSMEs to large enterprises and public procurement with preference and reservations for women-owned enterprises can ensure that women gain access to opportunities that will not only help their businesses to recover, but also strengthen their business portfolio (Basheka & Auriacombe, 2020). The Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) in Kenya is one such initiative (Public Procurement and Disposal Preference and Reservations Amendment Regulations, 2013). The objective is to link women-owned enterprises to the value chains, thereby boosting demand.

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Another effective strategy to support women entrepreneurs during the pandemic and beyond is collaborative working approaches. Women are collaborative by nature, so this approach would probably work very well for them. There are many ways in which small-business owners can join forces, learn from each other, increase purchasing power, attend to new markets and grow their revenues as practised by farmers in Côte d’Ivoire (World Bank, 2020). Another example is digitisation by smallholder farmers in Kenya where enterprises and suppliers work together to digitise and ease operations, as well as use digital extension services (World Bank, 2020). One of the reasons for collaboration is cost saving, which is always much needed but especially during a pandemic. Small businesses may share office spaces, equipment, or digital tools and software. They could also collaborate to sell, for example, put all their products on the same online platform, so customers are able to purchase from more than one company, and deliveries can be made together, as is done by farmer cooperatives in Kenya (International Cooperative Alliance, 2020). A third area of collaboration is for learning. Many women entrepreneurs go through a steep learning curve during a crisis, and they are eager to learn how to protect their workers, sell online, seek funding, and address many other needs. Using a joint proposal for a training approach, they can easily and affordably seek the services of a local business development service (BDS) provider. The BDS provider will also probably be seeking work, so the benefits are mutual. The women entrepreneurs could also collaborate to buy supplies. Collaborative purchasing gives them higher bargaining power with distributors and wholesalers, reduces costs, and realises economies of scale (Gender Research Alliance, 2020). Grandy et al. (2020) note that women entrepreneurs have often been disadvantaged when it comes to business networking. However, the interactions during the pandemic have probably given opportunities for this to happen. Traditional business associations and sectorial networks are providing enterprises with networking opportunities through virtual meetings, collaborative online platforms, marketplaces, and fairs. These new instruments where both start-ups and established enterprises can share their products/services and knowledge provide a great networking opportunity for women entrepreneurs. However, the women need to be strategic about it in order to derive the expected benefits. They could start by creating a checklist of other enterprises that they want to work with, develop an elevator pitch that would be of interest, and be clear about the type of collaboration or partnership they seek. The clearer the

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engagement, the more likely they are to get partners and collaborators (ITCILO, 2020). The cooperative business model may also be very effective for promoting gender equality for women entrepreneurs. Currently, many cooperatives exist in the African continent whose membership is largely women, in some cases over 80% especially in Agricultural-based cooperatives in East Africa. A study by ILO (2014) in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania showed 59% of women started economic activities after joining a cooperative, while 84% found that their volume of agricultural production had increased, with an average percentage change of 186%. Cooperative businesses have done much to help women move up the ladder of economic activity. The women are able to band products together to create economies of scale, increase their bargaining power in the market and get alternative sources of affordable funding for their businesses. Women tend to form cooperative businesses in the sectors of agriculture, care work, crafts and artisans, and financial services. This has enabled them to access training, markets, suppliers, funding, and technical support, all of which have contributed to their economic empowerment (ILO, 2014). This business model and approach is probably going to become even more important and relevant beyond the pandemic. Coupled with the cooperative business model is the idea of a communal approach to providing the support services that women need. For example, communal aged care and childcare services would free up the women to focus on their enterprises. Others might include farming activities where several women can come together to, say, hire a tractor to plough their lands or get some farm hands to do the planting and weeding. Infrastructural and financial support at community level targeting the specific needs of women entrepreneurs would go a long way in relieving them of some domestic chores and allowing them more time to focus on their businesses (ITCILO, 2020). Overall, this would also respond to SDG 5 on Gender equality, Target 4 that seeks to recognise and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate (UNDP, 2015). Another intervention is taking a cluster approach to support women entrepreneurs. This means considering women in various parts of the value chain and providing support along that chain. For example, using

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a cluster approach for women in the dairy sector, from milk production to marketing, could support hundreds of businesses even if they choose to operate as individual enterprises. Clusters are also influential as they have a voice to push for better business terms, get an audience with government agencies and lobby for support and resources (Rashid & Ratten, 2021). The cluster management approach has been used to support women entrepreneurs in the informal economy in South Africa (Okeke-Uzodike & Subban, 2019). Finally, digitisation has been touted as a key solution to the pandemic as it allows for a shift in business models to promote remote working. Indeed SDG 5 on Gender equality, Target 8 seeks to enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular, information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women (UNDP, 2015). On the one hand, Saleh (2020) and Shukla et al. (2021) suggest that through the use of ICT employees get flexible working hours, resulting in agile working which offers workers the freedom and autonomy to organise their time in order to achieve better job performance and work–life balance. This improves employee satisfaction as well as enterprise sustainability. However, on the other hand, it results in a convergence of the home and work environment, which can prove very challenging especially for women trying to concentrate on their work and productivity, while taking care of children, the elderly, or the sick in the same environment. Specific needs of women entrepreneurs and those in the workplace, therefore, need to be considered before offering digitisation as a blanket “solution” to promoting gender equality (Adisa et al., 2021).

Conclusion It is evident that the pandemic has exposed some of the realities that have often been ignored with regard to women entrepreneurs. For example, the foregoing literature suggests that although it has always been acknowledged that women bear the significant burden of child and aged care, not much has been done to address this issue for the African woman entrepreneur. However, the disruptions of Covid-19, such as lockdowns and cessation of movements, have exposed the challenges that women have always faced. Needless to say, time to act on these unfair and discriminatory practices is now. Many African women in their informal and small enterprises have continued to sustain their families during the pandemic. Promoting women’s entrepreneurship and their economic empowerment

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is therefore important for the women, their families, and the society. It would also benefit African nations in their quest to achieve UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 5 (gender equality) and Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). The examples and literature discussed in this chapter demonstrate that governments, the private sector, NGOs, and donors must all be prepared with a battery of measures and approaches, to hit at the various levels of interventions needed—fiscal policies, job protection, social security, women in entrepreneurship, and many others. Since the Covid-19 may not be the last of the pandemics or crisis we may experience, future policies need to target short-term measures that support the overall population with immediate measures to prevent the bankruptcy of MSMEs, followed by long-term measures that facilitate productive capacity, employment, and adaptability to new situations and challenges. The pandemic has also reinforced the reality of the interconnectivity of countries. Although each country is free to design its own policies, programmes, and interventions, broad integrated approaches should be privileged, based on social dialogue between governments and social partners. Public–private partnerships are key elements to ensure an effective and coordinated response. Note: The chapter has been informed by an SME e-conference hosted by Strathmore University Business School on the theme: Unlocking SME potential to increase resilience and excellence in uncertain times held on 10th and 17th September 2020. The author wishes to thank all the conference speakers for their contributions that have been incorporated into this chapter.

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World Bank. (2020). Supporting women throughout the coronavirus (covid-19) emergency response and economic recovery. World Bank Gender Innovation Lab. Zeufack, A. G., Calderon, C., Kambou, G., Kubota, M., Korman, V., CantuCanales, C., & Aviomoh, H. E. (2021). COVID-19 and the future of work in Africa: Emerging trends in digital technology adoption. World Bank.

CHAPTER 10

Gender and Covid-19 Economic Recovery: Towards Policy Recommendations and Directions in Kenya Abel Kinoti Meru

and Mary Wanjiru Kinoti

Introduction The first case of Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) in Nairobi, Kenya, was confirmed on March 13, 2020, at the National Influenza Centre Laboratory, National Public Health Laboratories, Ministry of Health (MOH, 2020a). From the onset, the degree of countrywide preparations was questionable given only 162 ICU beds, and I61 ventilators existed in only 24 counties, while 22 had none, and counties had no isolation facilities, inadequate medical personnel, Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and hand sanitisers (COG, 2020a). On March 13, 2021, exactly a year later, Kenya had registered 112,805 (71,134 male and 41,671 female) positive cases and 1,908 deaths (CHERP, 2021) and still counting, from

A. K. Meru (B) School of Business, Riara University, Nairobi, Kenya M. W. Kinoti School of Business, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_10

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a cumulative test figure of 1,356, 390 spread throughout the Republic (GoK, 2021). To contain public health issues from March 21, 2020, National Emergency Response Committee (NERC) suspended international passenger flights, closed bars indefinitely, and abolished all religious gatherings (MFA, 2020). The aftermath witnessed in other countries includes disruptions in socio-economic activities, containment measures, distraught households, addressing new norms, and worsening historical gender imbalances. By the end of 2019, Kenya’s nominal GDP had risen to US$ 101 billion (with a GDP per capita of US$ 2074), an increase of more than 240% compared to 2009, with a growth rate of 5.4% against a global decelerated average of 2.9% (KNBS, 2020b). This was projected to grow by 6.3% by the end of the year 2020, but this did not materialise due to the onslaught of Covid-19. Despite numerous measures put in place to mitigate the pandemic, the economy grew by a partly 0.6% in 2020, though far much better than the global economic growth average of minus 3.5% or Europe minus 7.2%, translating to a loss of US$ 560 million of GDP, however, the economy is expected to rebound to the growth rate of 7.2% in 2021 (GoK, 2021). By mid-April 2021 Kenya had 152, 523 confirmed Covid-19 positive cases (male 60%) and female 39%) that had resulted in 2,517 deaths (69% male and 30% female) and still unabated (United Women, 2021b). United Women (2019) data indicated that Kenya with a GINI index of 0.49 had the highest income inequalities in East Africa and was ranked position 74 out of 144 countries with a global gender gap index score of 0.694 on account of income, health, education and representation. Data on healthcare resources by March 2020 per 1000 people showed that Kenya had 0.80 hospital beds, 0.10 nurses and midwives and 0.04 physicians, a clear manifestation of inadequate capacity to handle the pandemic (United Women, 2021b). United Nations Women Data Hub shows that by December 2020, Kenya had availed only 41.8% indicators to monitor gender equality as per the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with gaps in domestic work, labour market, poverty, and violence against women (United Women, 2021a). Thus, the true gendered effect of Covid-19 may not be fully articulated without examining the Covid-19 situation, the socioeconomic mitigation measures and its effect on gender. The subsequent paragraphs outline the key broad containment measures adopted, gender statistics and policy guidelines, economic recovery measures, and the gender implications since the onslaught of Covid-19 in early 2020 are outlined in the subsequent paragraphs.

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Broad Covid-19 Containment Measures In light of the imminent presence of Coronavirus Disease in the East Africa’s regional hub, Nairobi, and to further guide the country’s preparedness, Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta, His Excellency the President of Kenya, issued Executive Order No. 2 of 2020 on February 28, 2020, establishing the National Emergency Response Committee (NERC), absorbing the prior Cabinet’s ad hoc Committee on Health and InterMinisterial Technical Committee on Government response to Covid19 (GOK, 2020a). The Committee was tasked with the responsibility of addressing the preparedness and prevention of Covid-19, capacity building, enhanced surveillance, sourcing of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, economic impact assessment, and soliciting support from local and international development partners. Prior to the pandemic, in January 2019, the Government had adopted an all—of—Government four-tiered approach to service delivery in Kenya, besides the President’s Delivery Unit (PDU) of 2015, in order to strengthen the devolved governing system outside the ruling coalition political bickering. This people-centric approach was geared towards expediting timely delivery of projects, efficient utilisation of project funds, and enhancing accountability by the implementing agency, which led to the smooth mitigation of the Covid-19 pandemic. The apex body of four-tiered structure was National Development Implementation Cabinet Committee, followed by the National Development Implementation Technical committee comprising the Principal Secretaries; then the Regional Development Implementation Committee made up of Regional Commissioners and the fourth tier comprised the 47 County Development Implementation Committee for the County Commissioners (The President, 2020a). Under the GOK (2020b) social status measures, the president further directed mechanism for working from home to be established, plus those with pre-existing medical conditions and above 58 years to take compulsory leave. The National Security Council, by issuance of public order No.1 nationwide curfew, was imposed from 7.00 pm to 5.00 am daily effective March 27, 2020, except for medical professionals, health workers, critical and essential service providers. On April 6, 2021, restriction of movement of people in and out of Nairobi Metropolitan Area was imposed (Kenya Law, 2020), followed later by that of Mombasa, Kilifi, and Kwale Counties.

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Gender Policy Guidelines and Statistics It is imperative to note at the onset after the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution of Kenya, which anchored the spirit of gender equality and non-discriminatory practices, clear policies and laws have been developed to promote best gendered statistics for sustainable development. Notable among them is the Gender Sector Statistics Plan (GSSP) 2019–2023, aligned with the Kenya National Gender Statistics Assessment 2018 in line with the Kenya Strategy for Development of Statistics (KSDS), the framework for enhancing statistical capacity for institutions within the National Statistical Systems (ministries, department, and agencies) and Sustainable Development Goals. GSSP links together the key institutional players in guiding, streamlining, and implementation of gender centric statistics; namely the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2006), State Department of Gender (2015), National Gender Equality Commission (2011), Inter Agency Gender Statistics Technical Committee (IAGSTC) and Gender Sector Working Group (GSWG), while the allied state agencies include Women Enterprise Fund, National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), Anti- Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Board, and the Uwezo fund (KNBS, 2020a). Kenya’s population size based on the first-ever recorded enumeration exercise in 1897 was 2.5 million, which grew to 8.6 million in 1962 at the dawn of independence and stood at 46.7 million as per the 2019 census comprising 23.5 million males and 24 million females, with 32.7 million living in the rural areas while 14.8 million stay in the urban areas (KNBS, 2019a). The KNBS (2019b) census report disaggregated results on education shows that out of the 43 million people of age 3 years and above, 8.7 million (39.4%) females were in learning institutions, 5.6 million (25.5%) had left school after completion, 3.7 million (16.6%) left before completion, while 3.8 million (17.6) had never been to school. 11.9 million female of age 15 years and above had acquired training in diverse fields. On the issue of economic activity, 9.9 million females were working and a similar number outside the labour force, with 2.6 million working in the urban areas and with 7.3 million in rural areas plus 6.7 million unemployed. A sizeable number of females, that is, 10.4 million (47%) females owned mobile phones, and 4.5 million used the internet. The census results show 12 million conventional households owned standalone radio (56.9%), TV (45.4%), and internet (17.9%),

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with the main type of cooking fuel used being firewood (55.1%), liquefied petroleum gas (23.9%), charcoal (11.6%) and paraffin (7.8%), while the main type of lighting fuel ranged from electricity (50.4%), solar (24.5%), paraffin (17.5%), and wood (2.8%) among others. Generally, Kenya has put reasonable measures in place, but due to unprecedented changes brought about by Covid-19, additional economic measures were necessary to cushion innocent citizens, as explained herein.

Economic Recovery Measures Under fiscal policy measures, on March 18, 2020, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) stated that commercial banks had agreed to provide loan relief through restructuring of individuals, SMEs and corporate borrowers loans and also waived mobile money transfer charges (CBK, 2020a). On March 20, 2020, CBK released US$ 74 million, being the proceeds of the unaccounted Kenya shillings after the demonetisation of the currency earlier on, to contain Covid-19 in support of health facilities and health workers (The President, 2020e). On March 24, 2020, CBK further reduced the commercial banks’ lending rate, that is, the Central Bank Rate (CBR) to 7.25%, and lowered the cash reserve ratio to 4.25%, injecting liquidity of US$ 35.2 million to the banks. On March 25, 2020, the President directed the National treasury to provide 100% tax relief to those earning up to US$ 240 per month, reduction of PAYE and corporate tax from 30 to 25%, MSMEs turnover tax from 3 to 1%, VAT from 16 to 14% with effect from April 1, 2020 (The President, 2020d). The directive further ordered the appropriation of US$ 100 million to elderly and vulnerable groups through a cash transfer programme under the Ministry of Labour, and a further US$ 10 from Universal Health Coverage to hire more health workers. The President also authorised Ministry Departments to pay US$ 130 million in verified pending bills, and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to refund US$ 100 million in VAT claims to boost liquidity (The President, 2020d). Further, on May 23, 2020, the President unveiled an eight-point economic stimulus package, noting that the government had already begun disbursing US$ 2.5 million per week to vulnerable families through a cash transfer programme. The government aimed at spending US$ 100 million towards engaging over 200,000 youth in public works through National Hygiene Programme dubbed Kazi Mtaani (public works in the estates) to improve public hygiene standards, improve urban civil works,

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and other public undertakings (The President, 2020c). The eight (8) point Covid-19 economic stimulus package unveiled of US$ 537 million aimed at stimulating economic growth, cushioning Kenyans and businesses to steer out of the recession and contain Covid-19 pandemic (The President, 2020c). The first point economic stimulus of US$ 50 million was aimed at rehabilitating infrastructure, mainly access roads, footbridges, and other public infrastructure, by engaging the youth and sourcing locally made construction materials in support of micro and small business enterprises in line with “buy Kenya build Kenya” policy. Education the second point was allocated US$ 65 million to support digital learning, improvement of schools infrastructure and acquisition of 250,000 locally fabricated desks using local artisans and builders. The third point economic stimulus focused on Small and Medium enterprises with an initial allocation of US$ 400 million to settle outstanding VAT refunds and pending road construction bills. A further US$ 30 million was set aside as seed capital for the SME Credit Guarantee Scheme. The fourth point set to hire an additional 5,000 qualified health workers for one year was also allocated US$ 17 million to acquire public hospital beds from the Jua kali (local artisan) sector. The fifth element was agriculture, with US$ 30 million for farm inputs using evouchers targeting 200,000 small-scale farmers and a further US$ 15 million in support of flower and horticulture producers to access international markets. Tourism, the sixth element, was allocated US$ 20 million as soft loans through Tourism Finance Corporation and a further US$ 20 million for community scouts under Kenya Wildlife Services and Community Conservancies. The seventh element, environment, was allocated US$ 8 thousand to rehabilitate wells, water pans, and underground tanks in arid and semi-arid areas, a further US$ 20 million to mitigate against floods and US$ 5.4 thousand for Greening Kenya Campaign. Finally, under build Kenya buy Kenya campaign, US$ 6 thousand was set to buy locally manufactured vehicles (The President, 2020c). By June 29, 2020, the Ministry of Trade had approved 113 local Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) manufacturers, among them Revital Healthcare (EPZ), one of the six firms pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO) globally to manufacture auto-disable syringes for fixed-dose immunisation against Covid-19 and other infectious diseases in Africa and the world, with a capacity to produce 25 million syringes per month (Revital Healthcare, 2021). To this end, on June 30, 2020, the President signed into law the 2020/21 budget that

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included approximately US$ 566 million for post-Covid-19 economic stimulus package plus the third 2019/20 supplementary budget of US$ 184 million in support of Covid-19 pandemic for county governments and health workers (The President, 2020b). On September 17, 2020, the President launched the US$ 19 million project for fabricating 650,000 primary and secondary schools desk by the Jua Kali artisan (The President, 2020f). The sectoral implications of the partial economic lockdown are better viewed in Kenya on case-by-case basis in light of the impact channels. Remittances from the diaspora remained resilient growing by 11% to reach US$ 3.09 billion by the end of year 2020 due to rapid advancement in money transfer techniques. In the third quarter of year 2020, the construction sector grew by 16.2%, compared to 6.6% in the preceding year; Agriculture, forestry, and fishing grew by 6.3%, while accommodation and food services contracted by 57.9% (KNBS, 2021). As of the end of June 2020 in the banking industry, profit had declined by 30%, equity capitalisation at Nairobi Security Exchange (NSE) had declined by 17.2%, mainly due to the exit of foreign investors, property occupancy rate reduced, resulting in reduced quality of assets and profitability of institutions in the financial sector, including pension and insurance schemes (FSR, 2020). The Kenya shilling depreciated against the international currencies due to restricted international movement, reduced demand for exports and reduced tourism earnings. Further, the fiscal deficit widened due to public borrowing by the government to support ballooning health and poverty reduction mitigation measures expenditure. The service subsector was projected to be hit hard due to Covid-19 mitigation measures with a growth rate revised downwards to 1.1 per cent of the GDP in the whole year, particularly the hospitality, aviation, leisure, sports and services.

External Support Measures As a result, IMF approved US$ 739 million under the Rapid Credit Facility to support the economy, signalling the need for effective mitigation measures by other foreign donors (IMF, 2020), including China, which despite being the lead lender, opted to remain quiet on the matter. According to Capital FM (January 17, 2021) news, China, under the G20

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Debt Service Suspension (DSS) initiative to caution low to middle-income countries from the effect of Covid-19, signed a suspension agreement with 12 African countries and provided a waiver for mature interest-free loans to 15 other African Countries, through the support of the China International Development Agency and Export–Import Bank of China. Google committed US$ 10 million in support of Kenya’s post-Covid-19 recovery for small business, start-ups, charity initiatives, and use of Google classroom learning platform (The President, 2021a). United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) that oversees United Nations Environmental and Human programmes, opened up a UN Hospital in Nairobi at a cost US$ 8.5 million with 150-bed capacity to cater for UN patients globally, and the first of its kind in developing countries (The President, 2021b).

Implications on Gender Covid-19 severely affected the labour market irrespective of gender due to shift in working and learning modes, partial closure of economic activities, health complications, and increased unemployment and underemployment. KNBS (2020c) first telephone survey interviews on the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 on households conducted in the month of May 2020 drawn from 15,840 (52% female and 48% men) revealed that of the 43.2% persons unemployed females accounted for more than half (51.2%) due to partial lockdown and work reduction and majority (91.2%) were not sure when to return to work.30.5% of households failed to honour rent obligations for the month of April 2020 on account of reduced earnings (52.9%) and temporary loss of job (22.4%). KNBS (2020d) second wave of interviews from 14,616 informants comprising 51.3% females in the month of June 2020 revealed a worsening situation. The number of interviewees absent from work due to Covid-19 issues had reached 61.9% compared to 49.9% in the previous month with 77.8% not sure when work will resume. Females absent from work due to stay at home advisory were 81.7%, while those due to cessation of movement were 26.4%. UNFPA Kenya (2020) sampled survey report in September 2020 on 2,587 households’ showed that more women (20%) than men (12%) lost their income due to Covid-19, which resulted in reduced household expenditure led to a reduction in food consumption, use of agricultural inputs and unpaid domestic workers among others. Further, more girls (34%—rural and 28%—urban) than boys (33%—rural and 27%—urban)

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were not able to continue learning from home. Other notable burdens on women are mental health issues due to home-based care of asymptomatic patients (60%), sexual and gender-based violence (GBV) and lack of basic healthcare. Between January and June 2020 gender based violence (GBV) increased by 92% compared to a similar period in 2019, and the government mitigated and de-escalated the vice through social safety nets cash transfer programme, offering support services through toll-free hotlines, strengthening County GBV Working Groups, the establishment of rescue centres for GBV with support from NGAAF and continued sensitisation and awareness creation campaigns (MPSG, 2020). In April 2020, the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) that empowers women, youth, vulnerable children, elderly persons, and persons living with disabilities, released 24.5 thousand dollars to all the 47 counties to contain COVID pandemic. The fund further released 4.3 million dollars to 26 counties affected by closure of businesses in urban slums and semi-arid lands in order to promote hygiene through education and provision water, soaps, and sanitisers (NGAAF, 2020). What remains to be seen is the outcome of affirmative action, but little if any evidence is available to support the mitigation measures since concrete and timely gender statistics are not forthcoming. Even then, given the size and magnitude of these measures compared to the population, it would be unimaginable to assume far-reaching positive implications in addressing gender inequality, leave alone cushioning women and children against Covid-19. Lessons learnt from the Kenyan situation shows that the less fortunate people in the society bulk of whom are women and girls, bore the full brunt of the impact of Covid-19, and should serve as a pointer to other Africa countries, that we need immediate and decisive action.

Policy Recommendations and Directions Lessons learnt so far in handling Covid-19 pandemic shows that the use of multi-sectoral mitigation measures, though important, is not articulate in addressing gender-specific socio-economic imbalances in the country. It is important to have clear gender-specific guidelines to enable generation of disaggregated gender statistics as a way of measuring gender equality and approaches to tackle Covid-19. To fully understand gendered impact of Covid-19 National Statistical Systems should fully disaggregate quantitative/qualitative gender data and other socio-demographic features and

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ensure it is fully automated/integrated for ease of access and referencing. Further, diverse state and non-state agencies at both levels of government should be put in place to enhance the use of gender sector statistics to realise meaningful gender equality and socio-economic empowerment. This could serve as a benchmark to other African countries to usher in gender data-driven socio-economic strategies to address gender gaps in health, employment, income, and peaceful coexistence.

Conclusion Though the real impact of Covid-19 is yet to be fully established since the disease is still ravaging the continent, no doubt its effect on gender and economic recovery will have far-reaching ramifications. Several state and non-state Covid-19 mitigation measures have been put in place, albeit on a smaller scale, to be felt nationwide. Support channelled through several institutions, like the State Department of Gender Affairs and funding agencies such as NGAAF, in line with the Constitution of Kenya 2010, are certainly addressing gender equality and empowerment. Additional support mechanism to entrench the use of gender sector statistics at both national and county government levels shall be handy in the future in accessing and addressing gender-related imbalances in the socio-economic development of Kenya.

References Capital FM. (January, 17, 2021). China ready to suspend debt to Kenya over COVID 19 pressure. https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2021/01/chinaready-to-suspend-kenyas-debt-over-covid-19-pressure/ CBK. (2020). Emergency measures to mitigate the adverse economic effects on bank borrowers from the COVID 19 pandemic. Central Bank of Kenya (CBK): Press Release. Retrieved March 8, 2021 from https://www.centralbank. go.ke/uploads/press_releases/1908080057_Press%20Release%20-%20Emer gency%20Measures%20to%20Mitigate%20the%20Adverse%20Economic%20E ffects%20on%20Bank%20Borrowers%20from%20the%20Coronavirus%20Pand emic.pdf CHERP. (2021). Responding to the COVID pandemic in Kenya. Kenya COVID 19 Health Emergency Response (CHERP) Bulletin. Ministry of Health, Republic Of Kenya. Retrieved May 31, 2021 from https://www. health.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Final-CHERP-newletter-Mar2021-Edition.pdf.

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COG. (2020). Council of Governors (COG) press statement on preparedness of Counties on COVID 19. Retrieved March 8, 2021 form https://www.cog.go. ke/images/Statements/Press%20Statement%20on%20Preparedness%20of% 20Counties%20on%20COVID19.pdf GOK. (2020a). The President, Executive Order No.2 of 2002: National Emergency Response Committee on Coronavirus. State House. Retrieved March 6, 2021 from https://www.health.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ExecutiveOrder-No-2-of-2020_National-Emergency-Response-Committee-on-Corona virus-28.2.20.pdf GOK. (2020b). Presidential address on the state of interventions to cushion Kenyan’s against economic effects of COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved March 6, 2021 from https://www.president.go.ke/2020/03/25/presidential-add ress-on-the-state-interventions-to-cushion-kenyans-against-economic-effectsof-covid-19-pandemic-on-25th-march-2020/ GOK. (2021). The fourteenth Presidential address on the coronavirus pandemic on 12 th March, 2021. State House, Government of Kenya. IMF. (2020). Request for disbursement under the Rapid Credit Facility—Press release; staff report; statement by the Executive Director for the Republic of Kenya. International Monetary Fund (IMF). https://www.elibrary.imf.org/ doc/IMF002/29037-9781513543284/29037-9781513543284/Other_for mats/Source_PDF/29037-9781513543314.pdf FSR. (2020, October).The 11th edition of the Kenya financial stability report (FSR), 2020. Financial Sector Regulators. https://www.centralbank.go.ke/ uploads/financial_sector_stability/1560356005_Financial%20Stability%20R eport.pdf Kenya Law. (2020). Kenya subsidiary legislation, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2021 from http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/pdfdownloads/LegalNotices/ 2020/LN51_2020.pdf KNBS. (2019a). 2019 Kenya population and housing census, vol. 111: Distribution of population by age, sex and administrative units. Nairobi: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). Retrieved May 21, 2021 from http://www.knbs. or.ke. KNBS. (2019b). 2019 Kenya population and housing census, vol. 1V: Distribution of population by socio-economic characteristics. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). Retrieved May 21, 2021 from http://www.knbs.or.ke. KNBS. (2020a). Gender sector statistics plan 2019–2023. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). Retrieved May 21, 2021 from http://www.knbs.or.ke KNBS. (2020b). Economic survey 2020. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). Retrieved March 14, 2021 from http://www.knbs.or.ke. KNBS. (2020c). Survey report on socio—Economic impact of COVID 19 on households: Wave One. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). Retrieved

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May 23, 2021 from https://www.knbs.or.ke/?wpdmpro=quarterly-grossdomestic-product-report-third-quarter-2020 KNBS. (2021). Quarterly Gross Domestic Report—Third Quarter, 2020. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) MFA. (2020). National Emergency Response Committee (NERC) press statement. Retrieved March 8, 2021 from https://www.mfa.go.ke/?p=3260. MOH. (2020). The first case of corona virus disease confirmed in Kenya. Ministry of Health (MOH), Government of Kenya. Retrieved March 6, 2021 from https://www.health.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Statementon-Confirmed-COVID-19-Case-13-March-2020-final-1.pdf MPSG. (2020). The Cabinet Secretary statement on increased Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the Country. Ministry of Public Service and Gender, Government of Kenya. Retrieved May 20, 2021 from https://gender.go.ke/ wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Statement-by-Cabinet-Secretary-on-Increa sed-GBV-in-the-Country.pdf NGAAF. (2020). The National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) releases emergency funds to counties to contain COVID 19 pandemic. The National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF). Ministry of Public Service and Gender, Government of Kenya. Retrieved May 20, 2021 from http://iosofttech.co.ke/mindocs/NGAAF%20PRESS%20RELE ASE%204th%20April.pdf The President. (2020a). All—of—Government Approach has improved service delivery; enabled better response to COVID 19, President Kenyatta says. The Presidency. Retrieved March 17, 2021 from https://www.president.go.ke/ 2020/11/24/all-of-government-approach-has-improved-service-delivery-ena bled-better-response-to-covid-19-president-kenyatta-says/ The President. (2020b). President Kenyatta signs into law the 2020/2021 budget, 2020 finance bill and 2019/2020 supplementary budget. The Presidency. Retrieved March 17, 2021 from https://www.president.go.ke/2020/06/ 30/president-kenyatta-signs-into-law-the-2020-21-budget-2020-finance-billand-2019-20-third-supplementary-budget/ The President. (2020c). The seventh presidential address on the coronavirus pandemic: The eight (8) point economic stimulus programme Saturday 23 rd May, 2020. The Presidency. Retrieved March 18, 2021 from https:// www.president.go.ke/2020/05/23/the-seventh-presidential-address-on-thecoronavirus-pandemic-the-8-point-economic-stimulus-programme-saturday23rd-may-2020/ The President. (2020d). Presidential address on the state interventions to cushion Kenyans against economic effects of COVID 19 pandemic on 25 th March, 2020. The Presidency. Retrieved March 18, 2021 from https://www.pre sident.go.ke/2020/03/25/presidential-address-on-the-state-interventions-

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to-cushion-kenyans-against-economic-effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-25thmarch-2020/ The President. (2020e). CBK releases Shs. 7.4 billion to support fight against Coronavirus. The Presidency. Retrieved March 18, 2021 from https://www. president.go.ke/2020/03/20/cbk-releases-shs-7-4-billion-to-support-fightagainst-coronavirus/ The President. (2020f). President Kenyatta launches Kshs. 1.9 million locally assembled school desks project. The Presidency. Retrieved March 19, 2021 from https://www.president.go.ke/2020/09/17/president-kenyattalaunches-shs-1-9bn-locally-assembled-school-desks-project/ The President. (2021a). Google unveils a US$ 10 million dollar grant to support Kenya’s post COVID 19 recovery. The Presidency. Retrieved March 16, 2021 from https://www.president.go.ke/2021/01/28/google-unveils-a-10million-dollar-grant-to-support-kenyas-post-covid-19-recovery/ The President. (2021b). Partner with us in ‘Kazi Mtaani’ President Kenyatta tells development partners. The Presidency. Retrieved March 16, 2021 from https://www.president.go.ke/2021/03/10/partner-with-us-inkazi-mtaani-president-kenyatta-tells-devt-partners/ Revital Healthcare. (2021). Catalogue. Revital Healthcare (EPZ) Limited. Retrieved March 15, 2021 from https://www.revitalhcare.com/downloads/ Revital%20Healthcare%20Catalogue.pdf UNFPA Kenya. (2020). An assessment of the gendered effects of the COVID 19 pandemic on households: Kenya 2020. Retrieved from https://kenya.unfpa. org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/covid-19_gender_assessment_kenya_full_rep ort.pdf United Women. (2019). Kenya national gender statistics assessment. United Women Kenya. Retrieved June 2, 2021 from africa. https://unwomen.org United Women. (2021a). Gender gaps and country performance—Kenya.. Retrieved June 2, 2021 from https://data.unwomen.org/country/kenya. United Women. (2021b). COVID19 emerging gender data and why it matters. Retrieved June 3, 2021 from https://data.unwomen.org/resources/covid19-emerging-gender-data-and-why-it-matters

CHAPTER 11

Empowering Women During Covid-19 Pandemic: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities for Informality David Olusegun Sotola, Pregala Pillay, and Priscalia Khosa

Introduction In the last few decades, gender equality has been of topical and programmatic importance in development conversations. Some of the areas of specific focus include gender-related disadvantages and underrepresentation of women in leadership positions globally. Although there is an increasing awareness of this problem due to decades of campaigns and interventions (e.g., the Millennium Development Goals), the problem is, however, persistent and still proving to be a marathon than a sprint. Over the years, some positive changes can be observed, including that it is now commonplace and well accepted for women to be elected and

D. O. Sotola (B) · P. Pillay School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa P. Khosa Department of Social Work, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_11

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appointed to top positions both in the private and public sectors. For instance, in Rwanda and South Africa, the share of females in political leadership positions is relatively high, at 63% and 42%, respectively (Sotola, 2019). Some countries have also institutionalised some form of quota system to ensure women are represented in leadership, but the resultant impact is still mixed (Pande & Ford, 2012). Moreover, there are still concerns that the growth in number of appointments may not be deeply rooted enough and women’s appointment into leadership positions is tokenistic, especially in Africa where there are still deep-seated cultural and religious impediments (Sotola, 2019). This book chapter presents a discussion on how Covid-19 has not only further exposed the depth of gender inequality but also create a situation where targets already set through the SDGs are being threatened. The pandemic is revealing how fragile is the state of gender empowerment broadly and providing lessons on how social disruption can affect well-intended goals. The onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic has created turmoil in the world, with millions of infections and deaths (Sotola et al., 2021). While the impact cut all across all aspects of society, this chapter presents analysis and reflections of how women in the current context of development are being affected by the pandemic. The chapter is a desk-based research in which the authors firstly reviewed available empirical evidence in the relevant literature and secondly relate these impacts on the SDG on gender equality. The study consequently reflects what this means in the light of Covid-19 pandemic, the prevalence of informality and in the African context. Premised on emerging literature on Covid-19 impact, it was argued that women are being affected socially and economically, and the gains of the years of campaign on women empowerment may be impeded by the pandemic. Women have experienced the loss of income in a higher proportion than males, and they are also heavily burdened by domestic care (Dang & Nguyen, 2021; Pinchoff et al., 2020). In addition, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), women tend to be more involved in informal employment relative to formal (Bonnet et al., 2019), and most daily income-based market activities are predominantly female-gendered. But Covid-19 control measures have restricted access to practise their trade, thereby affecting the source of their livelihood. In conclusion, the chapter advocates that more efforts should be put into creating an economic structure that empowers women. While Covid-19 impact cut across all aspects of society, this chapter presents analysis and reflections on how women in the current context

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of development are affected by the social pandemic. Women tend to be relatively more involved in the informal business, and most daily income-based market activities are predominantly female-gendered, and the economic disruption occasioned by Covid-19 has disproportionally affected these lines of business activities.

WOMEN and INFORMALITY in Africa The status, power, and role of women have been the subject of focus in academic and development programmes over decades. Since the Beijing Conference of 1995, the awareness of gender inequality has occupied the top global discourse. The Millennium Development Goals and campaigns on girl child education by organisations like UNICEF (UNICEF, n.d.) are prominent examples. They arose from the recognition of the historical disadvantages and the over-representation of women in poor socio-economic indices. One common practice especially with NGOs and international development organisations is organising genderthemed empowerment programmes and mentorship sessions specifically for the female gender. One can guess that literally, thousands of empowerment sessions would have been organised globally over the years. While empowerment sessions serve many purposes, including increasing awareness of the problem, changing the narrative underpinning the status quo, empowering the women through capacity building, among others benefits, whether they have actually been optimal should be an object of future analysis. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic is showing the need to be creative in solving the problem. The level of informality and the prevalence of women in the informal sector are another dimension. Informal employment rates for women are higher than men and up to 95% of women workers in sub-Saharan Africa are informally employed1 (Bonnet et al., 2019). According to Bonnet et al. (2019), there is an overlap between informal employment and poverty. The informal and unskilled work done by women makes them vulnerable to poverty due to a lack of social protection and unstable earnings in the informal sector (Barrientos, 2002; OECD/ILO, 2019). Behind this fact are a series of complex intersecting factors, including poverty, cultural belief, and low management capacity resulting from

1 This data excludes South Africa.

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limited exposure to formal managerial positions. The high level of informality suggests that women are at the margin of economic activities, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where women are over-represented in the informal sector, with a large part of the overall population in nonwage employment (Kochhar et al., 2017). Although women predominantly occupy the informal trading sectors, they are leaders in their fields and need to be recognised as such. Women also struggle to get to higher management positions, especially in developing countries, because of fewer opportunities to participate in economic activities due to the patriarchal system. The patriarchal system is perpetuated by cultural inhibitors, glassceiling, family obligations, low capacity, and lower levels of education among women. Despite progress in closing gender education gaps, literacy rates remain lower for women than for men, especially in South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. Educational gaps are higher for older generations even though gender gaps in education have largely closed for the younger generation in many parts of the world, with female to male enrolment averages almost 98% in secondary education in middle-income countries (Kochhar et al., 2017). There have been programme interventions for women in the informal business sector, including micro-loan programme and social protection, with women constituting a larger share of the beneficiary. There are also self-help groups, including thrift and cooperative/rotatory contributions across markets and societies in Africa (Kinyanjui, 2014). Businesses choosing to operate informally are doing so intending to circumvent the constraint around formal regulation and to limit exposure to regulation and tax (Kinyanjui, 2014). One silent problem is that microenterprise is excessively regulated and pays the cost of informality through other means; for instance, lack of formality limits the business growth potentials and exploitation. Due to labour markets being divided along with gender lines across the globe, women’s contributions to the economy, growth, and well-being of societies are far below their potential, with serious macroeconomic and social consequences. Gender inequality in the economic arena manifests itself in numerous ways. For example, female labour force participation is lower when compared to male participation because women often work without pay and are predominately employed in the informal sector (Barrientos, 2002; OECD/ILO, 2019; Bonnet et al., 2019; IMF, 2020). In many countries, including in the African continent, distortions and

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discrimination in the labour market restrict women’s options for paid work, and among those who do work, few attain senior positions or engage in entrepreneurship. Women also do unpaid work such as childcare and managing households thereby reducing their chances of gaining paid work (IMF, 2020). It is important to pay close attention to gender equality as one of the key sustainable development goals for the betterment of our society. Moreover, there is evidence that shows that when women fulfil their full labour market potential, there are significant macroeconomic and societal gains that follow (Kochhar et al., 2017). The Covid-19 pandemic is happening in the gender context discussed above. The occurrence of socially disruptive events like the Covid pandemic seems to be showing the enormity of the problem. Covid-19 pandemic has drastically exacerbated the already existing gender disparities in a variety of realms, including domestic work, informal business sector, and academia. The pandemic has disproportionately hindered the productivity of women in these fields (Oleschuk, 2020). For instance, research has shown that the lockdown imposed because of Covid-19 has caused substantial disruptions to academic activities, requiring people to work from home, which has negatively impacted research outputs of female academics compared to men, further widening the gender inequalities, and disadvantaged female academics in junior positions (Gabster et al., 2020; Moodley & Gouws, 2020). The job losses that occurred because of Covid-19 disproportionately affected female workers, who are over-represented in some of the hardest-hit sectors of the economy, including retail, travel, childcare, and education. The increased number of female unemployment will negatively affect the gender equality gains that have already been attained prior to Covid-19 pandemic (Millikena et al., 2020).

Covid-19 Impact on Women: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities Covid-19 in Africa The Covid-19 pandemic created a global disruption, killing millions across the globe. As of mid-June 2021, it has infected over 177 million people and leads to around 4 million deaths globally (Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Dashboard). It was first reported in late 2019 in China, but by March 2020, it has emerged as a pandemic of global

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concern and forced a global reaction, with most countries announcing measures including lockdown, curfews and restrictions, mass education and campaigns, and economic palliatives (Sotola et al., 2021). Figure 11.1 presents information on the spread of infections in Africa. Over 70% of the infections in the continent happened in only eight countries as shown below. The containment measures implemented across countries are similar (Sotola et al., 2021). Some of the containment measures include lockdown and curfew, announcement of emergency plans and actions including the closure of educational institutions, restrictions on physical meetings, and business activities. As shown in Fig. 11.1, though the spread differs by country and region, there are however observable gendered socio-economic impacts especially those that can be linked to job and income loss, lack of access to healthcare and social supports due to restriction on social gathering and physical distancing, demand for sudden change in public and personal health behaviour, and disruption in traditional work processes and systems. For instance, the restrictions and lockdowns made many universities to innovate around tech-based and online mode of delivery and training as the traditional brick-and-mortar

All other African countries Algeria Nigeria Libya Egypt Ethiopia Tunisia Morroco South Africa 0

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Fig. 11.1 Spread of Covid-19 cases across Africa (June 2021) (Source Authors’ with data from Worldometer Covid Dashboard)

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model became impossible, leading to an increased work demand for staff and students. Empirical analyses of the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 are just emerging. Early studies on Covid-19 impact have analysed government policy responses and how they have helped or failed to curb misinformation, increase the uptake of precautionary measures, and their overall effectiveness as containment measures (Josephson et al., 2020; Sotola et al., 2021). Broadly, the impact of Covid-19 has been reported across all aspects of the society. Josephson et al. (2020) analysed survey data to track the differential impact of Covid-19 in four African countries, namely, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda. The study reported that more than three-quarters of citizens reported loss or reduction in household income, inability to access medicine and staple foods, and a massive drop in student–teacher contact due to the pandemic. The sections below present a literature-based discussion and reflection on the socio-economic impact of the pandemic with a focus on women. The discussion of the impact is structured into (i) gendered economic impacts and (ii) social impacts. The discussions assess the direct and indirect impacts around job and income loss, vulnerability of women to economic shocks, increase pressure from domestic works and childcare, and more difficulty in accessing healthcare, and impact related to social disruption and increase violence against women and other criminal activities. Also, Covid-19 is posing a threat to the positive shift in gender equality that has been achieved over the decades. Gender Impact Economic Given the evolving nature of the pandemic, there are still knowledge gaps on the socio-economic impacts, especially on gender and household dynamics. What seems to be emerging is that the pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities are being reinforced and exposed by the pandemic, especially for women whom extant evidence already shows that they are generally more economically vulnerable, and they have less capacity to absorb/adjust to economic shocks than men (UN, 2020). In one of the first empirical studies on Covid-19 gendered impact in Africa, Pinchoff et al. (2020) assessed the gendered dimension of Covid-19 with a focus on identifying vulnerability and risks in subSaharan informal settlement. The results highlight the disproportionate

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risks and impacts suffered by women. They identified key impacts around themes including food insecurity, household violence, and inaccessible or forgoing medical care. They reported that more women than men are being adversely affected by Covid-19 mitigation policies. Women are more likely to skip a meal than men, and compared with men, women are more likely to report an increased risk of household violence and to also forgo necessary healthcare (Pinchoff et al., 2020). Béland et al. (2020) similarly report a range of economic impacts, including increment in the unemployment rate and decreased hours of work and labour force participation. The study further reported a visible increase in labour market inequalities, and negative impacts on labour market outcomes are larger for younger workers and women. When this is put in the context of the fact that more women are into informal business and activities, it shows how significant the pandemic is to the economic power of women. Similarly, Dang and Nguyen (2021) investigated the impacts of Covid19 on gender inequality in income and employment outcomes. They find that women are 24% more likely to permanently lose their job compared to men. In addition, women worry more about the future effects of Covid-19 on their labour income, and there is an expectation of a fall in income up to 50% more than men. Because of this, women tend to reduce consumption and increase savings. This finding connects with the impact on household food security. Daudu et al. (2020) investigated the impact of Covid-19 on household food security from a gendered perspective. They concluded that the impact of Covid-19 is felt more in female-headed households compared to their male counterpart. The early evidence points to the fact that women are being impacted disproportionately than men because women tend to operate in economic activities that were affected by the Covid-19 control measures, especially the lockdown restrictions, informal services, healthcare, and food services. Apart from indirect individual and/or household effects that can result from loss of income given the restrictions, women are directly being affected by increasing domestic workload due to the closures of schools and day-care centres. This could particularly have a large impact on working mothers who are socially expected to oversee childcare services (Alon et al., 2020).

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Social Impact Beyond the economic impacts as discussed above, the pandemic also affects the social and communal living arrangements that are crucial to societal well-being. According to UNESCO, at least 130 million students from East and Southern Africa stopped schooling and lack access to formal education in the first half of 2020 due to Covid-19 (UNESCO, 2020). Many of them are girls with serious implications for their continuing education. The result of this disruption could be dire for girls as many may be unable to continue their education, leading to a lifelong impact. It has also been pointed out that Covid-19 created childcare problems, and women bear the burden in most cases. Miller (2021) interviewed mothers and reported that women became the backup plan for childcare. This is not just a loss of income for those who had to stop working but also has implication on their identity and personhood. For mothers who have had to stop working, it has been more than the loss of a paycheck. It’s a loss of self-determination, of self-reliance, of complex selves. No matter the jobs they held, the education they had or the backgrounds they came from, they described a loss of identity apart from being a mother. (Miller, 2021: 5)

Due to the pandemic, more women directly face the threat of infection and death because over 60% of healthcare workers are women (Parsitau, 2021). The implication is that they have more exposure to the virus and daily faced with poor facilities and support. There have been reports of an increase in gender-based violence and criminal activities generally. UN Women reported an increase in calls to domestic violence helplines during the Covid-19 lockdown (UN Women, n.d.). Fawole et al. (2021) reported that Covid-19-related emergency measures resulted in an increase in violence against women, especially intimate partner violence (IPV). The lockdowns in Nigeria may have inadvertently placed women already experiencing partner violence at risk for experiencing more severe violence, new challenges to cope with violent experiences, and other forms of violence, including violence that used the lockdown as a way to threaten women’s security and ability to protect themselves from the virus. (Fawole et al., 2021: 2)

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Before the pandemic, it was estimated that 1 in 3 women experienced physical or sexual violence (UN Women, n.d.). This finding suggests that the pandemic may have worsened the level of violence being experienced by women. Gender-based violence and criminal activities like sexual harassment and other forms of violence continue to occur in public spaces and online. Other forms of threat and negative impact posed by the pandemic include further restriction in access to girls’ education, social protection, unintended pregnancies, food security and nutrition, female health workforce, and access to WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) (Rafaeli & Hutchinson, 2020) as critical resources are being diverted to Covid-19. Crucial life-saving activities like access to healthcare are being hampered and the progress already achieved over decades is reversed. In Burundi, birth undertaken by skilled attendants fell significantly (WHO, June 2020). Social vulnerability and discrimination are being amplified by Covid-19 and women’s empowerment especially women’s decision-making and control over resources are being hampered.

SDGs, Gender Equality, and Covid-19 The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is one of the notable development programmes with clearly articulated targets aiming to bridge the gender equality gap. Globally relevant organisations and institutions, including governments, businesses, and multilateral organisations have keyed into the framework and to demonstrate their commitments to its realisation, they have incorporated relevant components into their programmes and strategies. For instance, the African Development Bank (AfDB), in its 2021–2025 development strategy has placed gender equality and women and girl’s empowerment as a central tenet of its activities. According to the AfDB strategy document 2021–2025; The African Development Bank has made gender equality and women and girl’s empowerment central to its activities through developing and implementing strategies that integrate women’s concerns into the Bank’s internal and external operations and engagement. (AfDB, 2020)

The above quote is to emphasise that the intention to change the narrative on gender inequality is popular and well-articulated in development agenda across institutions; government, business, NGOs, and

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international organisations. In line with this goal, women empowerment programmes are commonplace and several of them are being organised globally. Though an understanding of how the pandemic could affect the female gender could be deduced from the discussion presented in the sections above, nevertheless, it is still relevant and useful to undertake a discussion on the link between Covid-19, the SDG, and gender equality in the context of the chapter. Reflectively, it seems clear that the Covid-19 pandemic could undermine, or in the least, slow down the realisation of the SDG targets, including gender equality aspect. The impact of Covid-19 could be particularly dire on SDGs, as the goals are interconnected, and an impact in one area could also affect the realisation of the specific thematic targets and the overall aims of the SDGs. Analysis reported by Afrobarometer already shows that many African countries are doing worse than the prepandemic years on the SDGs (Afrobarometer, 2021). African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, among others, have been reported to be doing worse in meeting the SDG targets (Afrobarometer, 2021). This chapter identified four possible pathways through which the gender equality target may be impacted by Covid-19. Firstly, due to Covid-19 containment measures and restrictions (e.g., social/physical distancing, lockdown/curfew, etc.) implemented across countries, the regularity of holding women empowerment programmes may reduce, leading to an overall reduction in the frequency of such programme. Though following the various lockdown measures, many organisations shifted to online programming, but given the reality for many women, who are uneducated, informal traders, and with little or no tech capacity (ACBF/AfDB, 2016), they may be unable to participate in these programmes. This is in direct conflict with one of the key agendas of SDG 5 to enhance the use of technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women. While the transition to online programming should create an ideal situation to enhance the realisation of this goal, it is however not obvious whether this is the case. The level of digital connection was lower for female than male prior to Covid-19 (Afrobarometer, 2021). The high number of women in informal business, rural and uneducated with no necessary tech skill and infrastructure suggests the possibility of benefiting from this online-based programme is limited. Many women-related programmes, especially those to be organised for informal, rural, and/or

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uneducated women, may have to be stopped completely or postponed till when physical gathering is possible. Secondly, there have been reports of cuts in development and programme funding due to Covid-19 (Else, 2021). This seems true for both donors and government and is impacting on funded programmes and development activities (Cameron-Chileshe et al., 2021). Though the funding-cut seems to cut across the international development sphere and not solely on women empowerment programmes, female-related programmes are going to be similarly affected like other programmes, and women empowerment programmes are not excluded from the impact of these cuts. For organisations, low funding could lead to re-prioritisation and a low appetite for women empowerment activities. Thirdly, Covid-19 could become a ready excuse for underperformance and low commitment for missing out on meeting key SDG targets. To meet the SDG targets requires a long-term commitment and execution of programmes. Previous efforts on women empowerment have elevated the gender debate to the top of development conversation; Covid-19 could however rewind this progress or lead to a stagnancy in the achievement. Covid-19 could become a go-to/standard excuse as to why no major progress was achieved for any of the SDGs, including the gender equality SDG. Although Covid-19 is clearly impacting and disrupting plans and programmes and will thereby affect targets with link to the programme, it cannot be attributed as the main and only reason for the lack of progress in the pursuit to meet the SDGs. Lastly, and in connection to the informal sector and women, the combined effect of cut in funding, Covid-19 containment measures like social distancing and inability to carry out women empowerment activities are most likely to have effects on women in informal trade and activities. One good aspect that is happening due to Covid-19 is the implementation of government-backed social intervention programme across many countries. The government introduced social and economic palliative measures across many countries, and women and children are significant beneficiaries of these social interventions. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), governments in 197 countries designed and implemented social interventions mostly through social and economic policies to limit the human and economic impact of the pandemic (IMF, 2021). Typically, women are the largest beneficiary of cash transfers and social protection interventions (Beegle, 2020). In Nigeria, the government provided food assistance and cash transfer to the most vulnerable

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households (Babatunde & Olagunju, 2020). In South Africa, the government implemented a 500 Billion Rand Covid-19 relief package. The package includes a top-up on existing cash transfer programme and an emergency corona virus grant (Cyril Ramaphosa Presidential Address April 2020).

Recommendations Gender inequality remains a challenge, and the Covid-19 pandemic may further erode the gains achieved over the years. However, some actions can be recommended as a way to limit the Covid-19 impact and still ensure the SDG targets are not permanently undermined. From the foregoing, the following recommendations are proposed: Beyond Empowerment Programme The reality of Covid-19 is showing the need to move beyond traditional empowerment programmes and mentorship sessions. Mentorship and empowerment programmes are common ways of empowering women. While they remain useful as empowerment tools, the reality imposed by Covid-19 is showing the limitation of the approach. Social distancing regulations and lack of technology capacity are showing the limit of these tools. This suggests the need for newer and out-of-the-box ideas to empower women, especially for those in informal and rural settings. Social and Economic Reform As shown in the previous sections, the economic impact of the pandemic affected women disproportionately. This is partly because females are heavily involved in informal business activities, and are expected to bear the burden of childcare and domestic activities, and have more exposure to the virus due to the fact that more female work in the healthcare sector than male. Institutional reforms that promote women should be implemented and supported. It has to be a deliberate policy as there are currently cultural practices and systems that perpetuate the disempowerment. Due to years of campaign, there are regulations and laws stipulating gender quota, while this could be helpful but more needs to be done in this line.

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Specific Policy Attention to Help Those in Informality Informal business is an African reality, and government policy must not only recognise their existence but be deliberate in helping them. One of the ways to do this is to factor this reality into government policies and create an economic structure that deliberately empowers women operating in this area. While those who may want to move from informality to formality may be encouraged and supported, those who are unable to should not be frustrated. Public Education Emphasis on Women and Covid-19 The Covid-19 pandemic is mostly discussed as a public health concern. While this is important, the SDGs will benefit from more regular highlights on the gendered social and economic impacts. In other words, the gender context and dimensions should be highlighted more in public education and engagement. One approach should be to further expose and educate on coping mechanisms in times of disruption like Covid-19. Building Women Capacity to Work Remotely An emerging work reality due to Covid-19 includes off-site work and working from home. Most of the works in the informal sector can hardly be remotely done. There is a need to build capacity and skills to empower more women to be able to benefit from the remote work phenomenon.

Conclusion This book chapter is a discussion on how Covid-19 has impacted the female gender and may undermine the realisation of the SDG. The chapter is a reflection on the economic and sociocultural dynamics that have perpetuated the systematic disempowerment in the light of Covid-19 pandemic. The chapter discussed these dynamics in the context of Covid19 pandemic, in terms of its impact and threat, and the gendered nature of informal activities. In conclusion, Covid-19 has shown how unforeseen and unpredictable events can disrupt well-laid out targets like SDGs. In this wise, less reliance should be placed on traditional empowerment activities to meet the SDG targets, given that the targets were not set with Covid-19 in

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mind. This chapter recommends that, beyond basic empower programme like mentorship, more efforts should be put into creating an economic structure that deliberately empowers women. Despite the Pandemic, Each Time a Woman Stands up for Herself, She also Stands up for All Women in Society!

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CHAPTER 12

Financial Inclusion for Women in the Informal Economy: An SDG Agenda Post Pandemic Nguyen Phong Nguyen and Emmanuel Mogaji

Introduction Before Covid-19, a divide and inequality already existed within the world’s economies; however, the global pandemic has exacerbated this further. Numerous developing countries have been severely impacted by the pandemic, which has had a detrimental effect on their economy and life. Many working populations in these developing countries work

N. P. Nguyen School of Accounting, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam e-mail: [email protected] E. Mogaji (B) Department of Marketing, Events and Tourism, Department of Research Administration and International Relations, University of Greenwich, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_12

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within the informal economy and with different restrictions to curb the spread, and their livelihood has been affected. Women, in particular, have been affected by this pandemic. Tabbush and Friedman (2020) noted that stay-at-home women, those in frontline services and those who are often considered less privileged had been affected in gender-specific ways. Mogaji (2020) explored the impact of Covid-19 in Nigeria, a developing country in Africa and recognised how the pandemic had harmed economic activities, especially in the informal sector. The informal economy constitutes a significant contributor to the GDP in many countries (Duarte, 2017). It absorbs most individuals who are not sufficiently covered in the formal economy alongside the minorities who lack the necessary capacity to participate in formal employment (Hoa, 2019; Soetan et al., 2021). Among the minorities under this category are women, and their participation in the informal economy exceeds that of men (Boeri, 2018). The involvement of women in the informal economy is mainly fueled by the challenges associated with financial inclusion. Access to finances enables many individuals to operate formal business entities and other entrepreneurial activities and comply with the required legal, regulatory frameworks (Mogaji et al., 2021a). Lack or insufficient financial inclusion for women in developing countries compels them to turn to the informal economy for their incomes (Mogaji et al., 2021b; Soetan et al., 2021). Most women engaged in informal agricultural and non-agricultural activities (Mukhamedova & Wegerich, 2018). The United Nations approved the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, in 2015 as a worldwide call to action to eradicate poverty, safeguard the environment, and ensure that by 2030, all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The participation of women in the informal economy relates to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially on gender equality, food security, nutrition, and addressing poverty. The links between such participation towards the achievement of SDGs are the significant factors contributing to developing suitable policies aimed at enhancing financial inclusion for women (Adeola, 2020; Rai et al., 2019). SDGs are 17 goals as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which has been adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, providing a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future (United Nations, 2021).

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The significance of the financial inclusion of women in the informal economy in an SDG agenda can be justified. First, with the current policy interventions across Africa that are not focusing on addressing gender equality and women’s rights protection (Ampaire et al., 2020), financial institutions are still not doing enough to support women (Mogaji et al., 2021a). Second, the inherent challenges of the informal economy, coupled with the devastating impact of the pandemic, become imperative to present political, social, and economic responses towards sustainable development (Adeola, 2020). Third, women need to be supported through relevant policies and interventions to enhance their social and economic contributions of post-pandemic, achieve the SDG targets, and reduce gender inequality gaps (Mogaji et al., 2021a; Rai et al., 2019). In light of the need for this theoretical understanding of the impacts of Covid-19 on women and the informal economy (Mogaji, 2020; Tabbush & Friedman, 2020), this study aims to fill this knowledge gap and provide relevant policy recommendations. This study presents a theoretical insight into the impact of the interconnections between gender, informal economy, and the Covid-19 pandemic on financial inclusion and achieving the SDG by 2030. Specifically, the study has three aims. First, it theoretically examines the role of women in the informal economy and how the pandemic has affected their prospects in contributing towards the SDGs. Second, it explores the relevance of financial inclusion for women in the informal economy. Third, based on the literature on financial inclusion and participation of women in the informal economy, this study provides several policy recommendations within the context of Africa. A conceptual framework highlighting these key constructs and recommendations are presented in this study. The study also offers theoretical contributions for academics, students, researchers, gender specialists, activists, financial service providers, and policymakers who need to gain a thorough understanding of the interconnections between gender, financial inclusion, and sustainable development. The next part of this chapter is divided into seven sections. The first section provides a general overview of the informal economy and its interconnections with SDGs. The second section explores women’s participation in the informal economy. This was followed by the third section presenting the impact of Covid-19 on the informal economy. Section four offers financial inclusion for women in the informal economy. A conceptual framework illustrating the key constructs is discussed in Section five. Section six presents policy recommendations and directions for financial inclusion for women in the informal economy in Africa. The final section contains a concluding remark.

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The Informal Economy and SDGs The informal economy refers to all economic activities by the economic units or workers that are not sufficiently covered by formal legal arrangements (Medina et al., 2017). This economic sector thrives within countries with high unemployment rates, gender inequality, poverty, and underemployment (ILO, 2021). Gender inequality is fundamental in this consideration of financial inclusion for women in the informal economy because it is the primary factor that drives them towards participating in the informal economy (Mogaji et al., 2021a). This situation is escalated by the fragile situations in some countries where there are no other suitable alternatives other than operating in the informal economy to secure livelihoods (Webb et al., 2013). Informal economies also arise from the severe decent work deficits. Most of the workers are caught up in the informal economy due to low-quality employment, poor governance, inadequate social protection, and low productivity levels. According to ILO (2015), motives for individuals engaging in the informal sector arise from financial constraints, competition, inappropriate understanding of compliance, lack of awareness, and a deliberate choice for noncompliance. These factors make the activities in the informal economy hidden from the authorities either for financial gain or avoiding regulatory responsibilities (Medina & Schneider, 2018). Businesses in the informal economy include entrepreneurial activities during the early stages of product development or trading activities with a higher risk of failure or financial loss (Williams & Martinez, 2014). Distinguishing between formal and informal entrepreneurship is often challenging because the nature of the entrepreneurial process focuses on identifying and exploiting business opportunities (Hoa, 2019). This aspect is mostly the case for entrepreneurs seeking to grow their business ventures and might opt to employ undocumented or undeclared workers to produce legitimate products (Raijman, 2001). Such activities are also characterised by the informal economy. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the informal economy accounts for over half of the global labour workforce. Over 90% of micro and small enterprises worldwide are under this category (ILO, 2021). Informality characterises numerous labour markets across the world as millions of economic units operate in this sector. Additionally, hundreds of millions of workers earn their living in informal employment. Work in the informal economy is majorly characterised by

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small workplaces with unhealthy and unsafe working conditions (Khuong et al., 2021). Other characteristics include low or irregular income, low levels of productivity and skills, long working hours, and lack of access to the markets, information, technology, finances, and training (Webb et al., 2013). Workers in the informal sector also face challenges associated with the lack of recognition, registration, regulations, and protection under labour legislation and social protection (ILO, 2021). Thus, the high incidence of the informal economy poses a significant challenge to the workers’ rights and decent working conditions, which results in negative consequences for the enterprises, revenue, and soundness of the institutions (Engström & McKelvie, 2017). Per the ILO estimates, non-agricultural employment in the informal economy accounts for 76.8% of the total employment in sub-Saharan Africa. This proportion increases to 89.2% when the agricultural sector is included (ILO, 2015). In this region, informal employment for women is pervasive and is characterised by an extensive gender gap that exceeds 20%. This divide is more pronounced among the youth and has resulted in the feminisation of poverty. The feminisation of poverty alongside gender discrimination, ethnic discrimination, and disabilities makes women the most marginalised group in sub-Saharan Africa (Kabeer, 2015). This marginalisation amplifies their participation in the informal economy. It is mostly the case for women who do not have any other alternative besides participating in the informal economy (Mogaji et al., 2021a). Self-employment accounts for the most outstanding share of informal non-agricultural employment in sub-Saharan Africa at about 53% (Nagler & Naudé, 2017). The informal sector of the economy contributes significantly towards the national economies accounting for between 20 to 25% in South Africa and Mauritius and extending towards 50 to 65% in Nigeria, Benin, and Tanzania (Medina et al., 2017). These findings imply that informality entails the major contributor to the economy in many African countries. Its share of the total employment and GDP is predicted to grow after the Covid-19 pandemic. Informality is addressed through SDG 8.3, which focuses on promoting development-oriented policies that enhance productivity, resulting in the creation of decent jobs, entrepreneurship, innovation, and creativity (Barbier & Burgess, 2017). This SDG also encourages the formalisation of the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises through various interventions, such as access to financial services. Other SDGs that directly address financial inclusion for women in the informal

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economy include SDG 1, which focuses on poverty eradication. SDG 5 is concerned with gender equality, and SDG 10 advocates for equality (Halisçelik & Soytas, 2019). These SDGs are pertinent to informality and are primarily benefited by the programmes targeting the gradual formalisation of the informal economy. The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda seeks to enhance inclusivity for all individuals, and this target resonates with the informal economy workers across the world (UN, 2021). It includes the need to address the decent work deficits that affect the informal economy to accelerate poverty eradication for the informal economy workers. SDG 5 is critical for developing countries because UN Global Reports show worrying trends in gender equality regarding women’s economic empowerment. According to this report, only one in two women aged 15 and above are paid employment compared to three in four men (UN, 2021). This equates to about 700 million fewer women in paid employment compared to men. The UN Global Report on Economic Empowerment and SDGs further shows that more women participate in unpaid work than men. Hundreds of millions of women take part in informal employment without social or labour protection laws. The female workforce participation is affected by childcare, especially in urban areas (Govinda & Poornima, 2019). Within the context of SDG 5, enabling conditions need to be created to advance women workers’ rights. Women’s participation in the informal economy also contributes to SDG 2, which focuses on food security and nutrition. A significant majority of the women in developing countries participate in the informal agricultural sector as a source of income and livelihood (Govinda & Poornima, 2019; Mogaji et al., 2021a). This participation helps to ensure food security in urban areas as well as other countries.

Women’s Participation in the Informal Economy According to ILO, the proportion of women in the non-agricultural informal economy is equal to that of men, but differences manifest in other occupations. For instance, many women work as unregistered domestic workers, street vendors, and manual workers in factories and unpaid family duties (ILO, 2021). Women are affected mainly by factors of informality, which include discrimination, limited access to financial services, economic resources, property, and other business services (Arsene et al., 2020). This disparity is the primary factor contributing

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to the need for gender-specific formalisation strategies. Workers in the informal economy are seldom members of the workers’ and employers’ organisations and, therefore, lack proper representation in the formal institutions for social dialogue (Arsene et al., 2020). Most of the workers in the informal economy engage in harmful or dangerous activities. They may benefit from the formalisation process, which is facilitated by regulations aimed at environmental protection by improving working conditions. In sub-Saharan Africa, women constitute the significant proportion of workers absorbed in the informal sector (Asongu et al., 2019). They primarily engage in smallholding farming activities and small-scale sole proprietorships. This manifestation is associated with the notion that women are traditionally the most vulnerable group, and this vulnerability manifests mainly in Africa (Efobi et al., 2018). Their participation in the informal sector is also evident in the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector. According to Hilson et al. (2018), many women participating in the ASM sector work informally and face numerous challenges. These hardships are associated with ASM activities which have increased rapidly in the world’s most deficient environments and absorbed individuals facing extreme hardship. Therefore, participation in the ASM sector is poverty-driven and meant to meet the individual’s subsistence needs (Verbrugge, 2016). Thus, most of the women in sub-Saharan Africa turn to the buoyant informal economy, especially ASM and other small-scale businesses, for incomes meant to meet their subsistence needs.

Impact of Covid-19 on the Informal Economy The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all African countries, and its significant negative impacts manifest in the informal economy (Friedrich et al., 2020; Mogaji & Nguyen, 2021). These impacts arise from the containment measures implemented to curb the spread of the virus, which consequently reduced the economic opportunities for the populations relying on the informal economy (Mogaji, 2020). Most of the participants in the informal economy rely on personal contact with the customers to a greater extent which was the central prohibited aspect as a measure against the spread of Covid-19. Certain countries such as Liberia instituted banned street vending, eventually disrupting the livelihoods of numerous informal traders. According to ILO (2021), the first month of the crisis resulted in an approximate 81% decline in the earnings of

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informal workers in Africa. The gendered effects of Covid-19 greatly affected women participating in the informal economy as the informal sectors were hard hit by the pandemic. Findings from ILO (2021) show that the most affected sectors employ approximately 42% of female workers against 32% of male workers. These impacts combine with other inherent challenges associated with participation in the informal economy to amplify the adverse effects of Covid-19 on women in this sector. Most of the individuals participating in the informal economy in Africa are more vulnerable to hunger, impoverishment, and diseases (Friedrich et al., 2020). These defects are associated with their occupations as most informal sector workers are street vendors, construction workers, transport workers, or domestic workers. The impacts of Covid-19 on the informal economy in Africa are magnified because this continent is characterised by immense poverty and the prevalence of diseases (Castaneda et al., 2019). In a World Bank 2020 report cited in Machasio (2020), it is predicted that the pandemic and its subsequent containment measures would result in an economic contraction of about 2.8 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (Machasio, 2020; Olaleye et al., 2020). Restrictions on working and earning a living for the informal workers caused strains on the families. These impacts on households are gendered as most informal workers are women and account for about 89%of the total employment in sub-Saharan Africa (Ataguba, 2020). The precarious nature of informal work, characterised by a lack of contracts or income protection, implies that their livelihoods are greatly affected by the pandemic. According to Zhour (2017), most of the women working in the informal economy are paid minimal wages, and this challenge is exacerbated by the fact that the informal sector is harshly affected by public emergencies. Women, who make up the lion’s share of domestic workers, were laid off due to the inability to pay wages during the lockdown. Malik and Naeem (2020) further indicated that over 12 million home-based workers would experience significant uncertainties associated with the absence of social protection schemes, unprecedented economic vulnerability, and financial insecurity. According to World Bank data, women make up approximately 25.69% of agricultural workers and make up a sizable portion of the informal rural economy (World Development Indicator, 2019). The advent of the pandemic affected this

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proportion of informal sector workers by limiting the global food supply, which has increased pressure on women (Malik & Naeem, 2020). The informal economy workers have been adversely affected by the pandemic in terms of their employment security. According to Webb et al. (2020), many informal workers became unemployed due to the ease of laying off such workers without going through lengthy formal procedures. These employment security challenges resulted in many people having dramatic loss of income alongside the difficulties in accessing formal employee support from the government (Webb et al., 2020). In addition, their access to food and nutrition also dropped, especially for women are often the primary breadwinners in some families (Nanavaty, 2020). Thus, financial security challenges constitute a significant impact of Covid-19 on the informal economy workers.

Financial Inclusion for Women in the Informal Economy Financial inclusion is a significant contributor to economic growth and the eradication of poverty. It entails access to formal financial services by firms and households who suffer financial exclusion without access to such services (Fareed et al., 2017). According to the World Bank (2021, para 1), financial inclusion is defined as “individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs – transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance – delivered in a responsible and sustainable way”. Financial inclusion aims to enable households to smoothen their consumption and accumulate capital over time, thereby improving both the businesses and living conditions. Key international organisations such as The World Bank, United Nations, International Monetary Fund, and the G20 Global Partnership have emphasised the importance of universal access to financial inclusion for all people and its contributions towards improving economic and social welfare. According to Lyons and Kass-Hanna (2019), financial inclusion is directly related to poverty, income and wealth inequality, employment, and GDP growth rates. In the Middle East and North Africa regions, financial inclusion for women is a significant challenge as women are half less likely to access financial services (Lyons & Kass-Hanna, 2019). This region has seen considerable growth in informal borrowing, and only a

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small portion of the population could come up with emergency funds when necessary. According to Ellis et al. (2010), financial inclusion has numerous benefits to households. These benefits include availing of suitable opportunities to make investments, build savings, and access credit. It is also necessary to assist them in coping with income shocks and avoiding unforeseen emergencies, including illnesses or job losses. Despite progress towards enhancing financial inclusion globally, the gender disparity in access to finance has garnered considerable attention. A report from the World Bank in 2013 indicated that about 47% of women own a bank account compared with 55% of men (Gender and Development Unit, 2013). The scope of gender disparity in financial inclusion within the developing countries can be deduced from the study by Ghosh and Vinod (2017). Ghosh and Vinod (2017) indicate that female-headed households are less likely to access formal finances compared to those headed by men. Several other factors account for the disparity in access to finances, including educational background and residence. According to Ghosh and Vinod (2017), the highest educational attainment of any household member increases his or her chances of accessing formal financing sources. Similarly, female-headed households in urban areas are more likely to access formal financing than their rural counterparts (Ghosh & Vinod, 2017). These findings show that informality depends on the educational background and area of residence. Therefore, interventions aimed at increasing financial inclusion in the informal economy should address these two factors. According to Daniels (2014), many African women work in the informal agricultural sector and produce a significant proportion of the food supplied to the communities and country. Despite this effort, the major challenge manifests in terms of access to credit and other forms of agricultural finance. The overall share of women accessing financial resources is meagre, and it is estimated that they receive less than 10% of the overall credit going to small farmers (Daniels, 2014). This difficulty stems primarily from the invisibility of participating in the informal sector alongside stigmatisation, poor working conditions, and inadequate recognition of their contributions to the economy (UN Women, 2010). The financing gap for women in sub-Saharan Africa exceeds the estimated $20 billion due to the large number of businesses owned by women in the informal sector (Goldman Sachs Research Division, 2014). Despite the availability of microlending programmes, financial inclusion

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challenges persist due to numerous barriers to accessing finance within this economic segment. Consequently, women entrepreneurs ploughing their trade in the informal sector receive a smaller proportion of the total capital available for small and medium enterprises in Africa. According to Comninos (2020), the informal sector in many African countries is often overlooked by policymakers, resulting in financial exclusion. Limited funding opportunities arising from the financial inclusion challenges have resulted in the stagnation of the informal sector and the inability to formalise. Surveys indicate that informal businesses are often excluded to the extent that most start-ups rely heavily on the owner’s savings and money from friends and family as the primary source of financing (Comninos, 2020). Limited access to financing for informal businesses mainly arises from the lack of credit history, inadequate collateral, and poor business models. Compared with developed economies, the challenge of financial exclusion in developing economies, where most individuals are unbanked, is more prevalent. According to the Research ICT Africa (RIA) Access survey in 2017, about 76% of informal businesses in the surveyed countries lacked bank accounts, while 18% used the owner’s bank account and only 6% had business bank accounts (RIA, 2017). The same study indicated that only 3% of informal businesses reported obtaining a loan from a bank (RIA, 2017). These statistics indicate that financial inclusion remains low in developing economies, affecting the performance of informal business entities. Numerous impediments to financial inclusion for African women include lower levels of education, income, financial literacy, and lack of tangible assets or collaterals (Daniels, 2014). Other impediments include legal constraints, sociocultural constraints, lack of market exposure, and inter-role conflicts arising from juggling domestic and professional roles. These challenges also affect men, but women are disproportionately affected by their gender (International Capital Corporation ICC, 2014). The lack of legal parity between men and women in terms of the inheritance laws, their ability to work, laws governing their ability to register businesses, and laws regulating property and land ownership affects their access to finance (World Bank and IFC, 2012). Legal restrictions on property inheritance directly affect their ability to access finance. It restricts their acquisition of assets that can be used to secure loans from financial institutions. According to studies conducted by World Bank and International Finance Corporation, 21 out of 28 countries lack legal equality for men and women (World Bank and IFC, 2012). In countries where

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legal barriers have been removed, women face discrimination based on customary laws and other cultural practices. Lack of adequate education constitutes a severe hindrance towards women’s financial inclusion and growth because it deprives them of the relevant skills and experience required to manage the business entities (Herrington & Kelly, 2012). Time and mobility challenges affect women living in rural areas due to the lack of adequate infrastructure, making women’s work burdensome. Infrastructure constraints also affect access to formal financial institutions such as banks and consequently limit their scope of financial inclusion. Thus, financial inclusion remains a challenge for women in Africa, owing to numerous barriers hindering women from accessing formal financial services.

Conceptual Framework While this study recognises that women play various roles beyond work, it focuses on their involvement in the informal economy and within a developing country. Figure 12.1 presents the conceptual framework illustrating financial inclusion for women in the informal economy. It integrated the

Fig. 12.1 Conceptual framework illustrating financial inclusion for women in informal economy (Source Authors)

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critical construct in this study—women, informal economy, SDGs, financial inclusion, and Covid-19. The framework highlighted the position of women in a developing country working in an informal economy, their inherent struggles with access to infrastructure, enabling policy, gender discrimination is recognised while they are still making efforts in contributing to the GDP of the country and achieving the SDGs (Khuong et al., 2021; Mogaji et al., 2021a; Tabbush & Friedman, 2020). In addition, an earlier indicated three SDGs (1, 5, and 10) that directly address financial inclusion for women are considered in the framework. While this effort is not considered an easy task, the framework recognises the impact of Covid-19, albeit, temporarily, the lockdown and mobility restriction has affected the economic activities of many women (Tabbush & Friedman, 2020), especially in the informal economy (Mogaji, 2020). Even the health implications of the pandemic cannot be ignored; many women have contracted the virus because they do not have the choice to restrict their movement, exposing themselves to contact and thereby jeopardising their health. Though the impact of Covid-19 as a pandemic may be felt globally and recently occurred, just in 2019, the ongoing precarious state of women’s health in emerging countries cannot be overlooked (Pillai et al., 2017). This problem suggests that even in the post-Covid-19 era, if measures are not implemented to improve women’s health in emerging countries, there will be challenges in achieving the SDGs. Beyond health, Covid-19 and the challenges with gender quality, a more permanent, ongoing issue, there are inherent financial inclusion issues that these women are facing (Mogaji et al., 2021a). They work within the informal economy, often relying on cash payment, with limited access to financial products and services. Even as World Bank (2021) recognises that financial inclusion is a crucial enabler to reducing poverty and boosting prosperity, these women cannot contribute immensely towards achieving the SDGs. They may desire to work in the informal economy, but their exclusion from the financial systems makes it more challenging to eradicate poverty and create an equal society (Abdulquadri et al., 2021). In addition, they lack access to financial technology, either due to lack of access to electronic devices, education or even internet facilities, which further creates a digital divide. Importantly, they are also denied financial support in the form of loans and grants because they have not built a relationship with their bank (Mogaji et al., 2021b).

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As a result, women cannot access loans, further exacerbating poverty, expanding gender inequality, and delaying progress towards SDGs. Ultimately, some actions must be taken to enhance the prospect of achieving these SDGs, notably through increased financial inclusion, improved policy, healthcare, and infrastructural provision. The conceptual framework has illustrated the key constructs and their connections. While Covid-19 may be considered a key determinant in this era, there are still many more inherent challenges within the emerging economies that need to be recognised and resolved. Challenges related to education quality, infrastructure, and development such as electricity, power, and internet can supplant Covid-19 in impeding the progress and prospects for achieving the SDGs by 2030 (Agbo et al., 2020; Akenroye et al., 2018; Ndofirepi et al., 2020). With a focus on the impact of Covid-19 and financial inclusion and the interconnectivity between women and SDGs, our conceptual framework has recognised some key policy recommendations discussed in the subsequent section.

Policy Recommendations This section highlights policy recommendations and directions for financial inclusion for women in the informal economy in Africa. These recommendations are directed towards the government and international organisations like African Union that can formulate policies and initiatives to support women; gender specialists, activities, and other non-profit organisations supporting in coordinating activities to enhance financial inclusion for women; and financial institutions, and creating and enabling opportunities for women to be integrated into the financial system and access financial products that can bolster their effort in contributing towards the SDGs. Government and Policymakers There is a need to support the informal economy to enhance decent work strategy and improve working and living conditions (Abdurrahimli, 2019). It is also necessary to strengthen social cohesion and economic recovery of post-Covid-19. According to ILO, fundamental employment rights are similarly relevant in the informal economy as is the case in the formal economy (Martínez et al., 2017). This is why countries should strive to create high-quality jobs by addressing informality. This kind of

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anticipated support will require a combination of suitable intervention, including laws and regulations to enhance productivity, ensure workers’ safety, and increase their ability to generate wealth. Other interventions for enhancing financial inclusion for women in the informal economy after the pandemic include improving labour market governance, increasing the capacity to protect labour rights, and promoting safe and secure working environments (Findlay et al., 2017). Strengthening the legal, regulatory, and policy environment for social inclusion and protection also contributes to achieving the preceding objective. There is also a need to remove discriminatory aspects of the legal and regulatory frameworks, especially on land and property ownership, enhancing financial inclusion for women. International organisations like African Union (AU) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) also have roles in ensuring financial inclusion for women in the informal economy in Nigeria. There are inherent challenges with entrepreneurial activities in Africa, which must be recognised (Madichie & Hinson, 2014). The African Union Commission report on Africa’s response to the pandemic and beyond called for Africa’s homegrown solutions to the challenges of Africa in the wake of the pandemic, calling for a comprehensive approach to address many challenges being faced by women (UNDP, 2021). This includes providing grants, training, and access to information, recognising the challenges with infrastructure and supporting initiatives for research and development to address some of these challenges, providing opportunities for women to access easy loans and grants to expand their business, providing training opportunities across Africa, sharing best practice in these informal economies, and enhancing the business prospects of women. These international organisations should also work with different countries to provide an enabling environment across the continent for women’s informal economy. Achieving SDG in Africa requires the participation of all Africans and their government. Gender Specialists, Activists, Charity, and Educational Organisations Gender specialists, activists, charity, and educational organisations should support the establishment and empowerment of women’s groups as a significant intervention towards attaining the SDGs on gender equality. The women’s groups will serve as suitable avenues for eliminating the

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structural barriers for women and girls through suitable rights frameworks (Govinda & Poornima, 2019). They will also serve as contributors towards the development of policies and laws aimed at addressing gender equality and attaining the SDGs. For instance, policymakers will have consultations with the women’s groups to formulate laws and other legal frameworks to develop policies that suit the exact needs of the affected groups (Govinda & Poornima, 2019). The women’s groups also serve as suitable vessels for formal investments, as the communal nature of these groups can be capitalised on for informal savings (Daniels, 2014). It is easier for women to make investments through these groups because the relationships are built on trust. The members are primarily friends of people living within the same community. This aspect contributes towards the success of many informal savings groups as they are more responsive to women’s needs than financial products from banks and other financial groups (Daniels, 2014). Thus, the deployment of women’s groups will help policy formulation and increase financial inclusion through the informal savings clubs. Financial Service Provider Leveraging digital financial solutions will help in promoting formal business participation (Klapper et al., 2019). This aspect is vital to the formalisation process since it is the primary intervention to help postCovid-19 economic recovery. Digital financial solutions, especially those accessed through mobile phones, have immense potential to encourage most businesses to formalise their operations. This intervention capitalises on the findings from the World Bank Global Findex database showing that informality is a major product of financial inclusion challenges across the world (Bonnet et al., 2019). Digital financial services will make it easier for informal businesses to register and operate as formal business entities. Additionally, the government will find it easier to enforce relevant laws and regulations, such as tax compliance, through the use of digital financial transactions. According to Klapper et al. (2019), enhanced access can serve as a suitable incentive towards formalisation. Governments can utilise subsidies and tax inducements to incentivise informal business entities to formalise their operations. Policymakers should also focus on tailoring the programmes to the unique needs and realities of different business entities.

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African countries should prioritise the widespread adoption of financial technologies (fintech), as they constitute the most potent avenue to enhance financial inclusion in emerging economies. The majority of fintech’s benefits stem from its ability to reduce transaction costs and information asymmetries while fostering widespread outreach (Comninos, 2020). Fintech platforms include mobile money services as well as crowdfunding platforms. Artificial intelligence in financial service providers can also be adopted in reaching out to these groups of customers (Dwivedi et al., 2019; Mogaji et al., 2020). Mobile money has been successful in some countries and should be considered for widespread deployment to enhance financial inclusion in other African countries (Nan, 2019). The majority of the informal entrepreneurs will be able to access financial services through mobile money platforms. Therefore, it should be a top priority for deployment in countries with low levels of financial inclusion, such as Tanzania, Nigeria, and Mozambique (Comninos, 2020). This initiative should be coupled with digital financial education to the less educated members of the society who make up a significant proportion of the informal economy participants (Machasio, 2020). Other interventions should focus on preferential access to digital finances for women-owned businesses to close the gender gap. Effective communication of these initiatives from banks to the target audience is essential. Simultaneously, social media may be a convenient option (Gökerik et al., 2018). Other traditional media for marketing communications should be adopted in reaching out to many of these women operating in the informal economy.

Conclusion The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are set to be achieved by 2030, but there are growing concerns around its actualisation with the inherent challenges in many developing countries (Akenroye et al., 2018). The Covid-19 has been brought on board to exacerbate these struggles. Specifically focusing on the challenges for women, SDG goals like poverty (goal 1), hunger (goal 2), good health and wellbeing (goal 3), education (goal 4), gender equality (goal 5), decent work and economic growth (goal 8) are still in contention. In addition, gender equality has been negatively impacted by the pandemic, with women experiencing economic and social consequences such as job losses, poverty, and domestic violence (Sachs et al., 2020), financial exclusion of women, and their role within the informal economy had also been an

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ongoing challenge for government and other stakeholders (Mogaji et al., 2021a), these contexts provided the background for this study. While acknowledging these multifaced challenges, this study presented a conceptual framework illustrating financial inclusion for women in the informal economy. It integrated the key constructs in this study: women, informal economy, SDGs, financial inclusion, and Covid-19. The study makes a significant theoretical contribution by recognising the impact of a temporary health challenge. A long-standing struggle with financial inclusion in enabling women in the informal economy contributes to the SDGs. In addition, the study provides policy recommendations and directions for financial inclusion for women in the informal economy in Africa. These recommendations are relevant for gender specialists, activists, financial service providers, and policymakers to thoroughly understand the intricate relationships between gender, financial inclusion, and sustainable development.

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CHAPTER 13

Fintech, Blockchain, and Women in the Post-COVID Africa Olaniyi Evans and Olusegun Vincent

Introduction Women are not only the hardest hit by this pandemic, they are also the backbone of recovery in communities. Putting women and girls at the centre of economies will fundamentally drive better and more sustainable development outcomes for all, support a more rapid recovery, and place the world back on a footing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. (United Nations, 2021).

The Sustainable Development Goals promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels; empowerment of women through technology; and reforms to give women equal rights

O. Evans (B) Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria O. Vincent School of Management & Social Sciences, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_13

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to financial services (Nilsson et al., 2016). Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right but also a necessary foundation for a prosperous and sustainable world. It must be said that there has been progress in gender equality over the last decades: “More girls are going to school, fewer girls are forced into early marriage, more women are serving in parliament and positions of leadership, and laws are being reformed to advance gender equality” (United Nations, 2021, para. 2). However, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic could reverse the little progress made on gender equality and women’s rights. This is due to the fact that the coronavirus outbreak worsens existing inequalities for both women and girls across every sphere. For example, women have faced many barriers in the access to finance in Africa due to low literacy and numeracy, family responsibilities, social attitudes, or lack of documentation (Sioson & Kim, 2019). It is, however, believed that new technologies such as fintech and blockchain solutions are particularly adapted to the obstacles that women face (Thylin & Duarte, 2019). Financial technology (fintech) is the application of technological innovations to financial services and processes (see Dhar & Stein, 2017; Leong & Sung, 2018; Lagna & Ravishankar, 2021). Fintech innovations provide easy access to financial services such as savings, payments, credit, and insurance. An emerging industry, fintech aims to compete with traditional financial institutions in the delivery of financial services (Lin, 2015; Schueffel, 2016). Examples of such technologies aiming to make financial services more readily accessible to the general public are the use of smartphones for mobile banking, investing, borrowing services, and cryptocurrency. In addition, fintech has been used to automate trading, banking services, investments, insurance, and risk management (Gomber et al., 2018; Pantielieieva et al., 2018). Blockchain plays a huge role in fintech innovations, but it is not the same thing. Blockchain is a chain of blocks where transactions are recorded across a peer-to-peer network (a peer-to-peer network is where two or more PCs share files and access to devices such as printers without requiring a separate server computer or server software) to ensure that the value transferred is not duplicated (see Audia, 2018; Nofer et al., 2017; Zheng et al., 2018). Blockchain underpins the digital currency bitcoin (Nakamoto, 2009) and supports cryptocurrencies and smart contracts (Zwitter & Boisse-Despiaux, 2018). It promises “a more transparent, accountable, efficient and secure way of exchanging decentralised stores of information that are independently updated, automatically replicated

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and immutable” (Coppi & Fast, 2019, viii). This promise of transparency fuels decentralisation and automatic trust among parties. Blockchain technology and fintech have found uses in various domains with different functions, such as financial inclusion, remittances, reducing fraud, micro-insurance, cash programming, and grant management (Coppi & Fast, 2019). For example, as stated earlier, women have faced many barriers in access to finance in Africa. It is, however, believed that new technologies, such as fintech and blockchain solutions, are particularly adapted to the obstacles that women face (Thylin & Duarte, 2019). This is due to the fact that (i) their interfaces are increasingly devised to be consumer-friendly, and (ii) digital finance requires no physical presence in order to gain access to financial services (Jack & Suri, 2016). Even when physical presence is needed (e.g., to cash in or cash out), mobile money (or bank agents) are readily accessible. Therefore, this chapter explores the opportunities for women and girls associated with the application of fintech and blockchain in the Post-COVID Africa. At present, there is a rise in fintech and blockchain research in information systems journals (see Ali et al., 2020; Fernandez-Vazquez et al., 2019; Milian et al., 2019; Xu et al., 2019). Much of the research, however, is severed from women issues. The literature neglect of women-oriented fintech and blockchain is evident in how articles have limited focus on women in these areas. The main objective of this chapter, therefore, is to underscore opportunities for African women in fintech and blockchain as well as to encourage researchers to take an ethical turn and align their research with the women fintech and blockchain agenda. The rest of the chapter is structured as follows. In Sect. “Literature Review”, research on fintech and women as well as blockchain and women are reviewed to highlight its inadequate engagement with the women agenda. In Sect. “Fintech and Women”, the chapter deliberate fintech’s potential to improve the lives of women, while Sect. “Blockchain and Women” discusses blockchain’s prospects for women. In Sect. “Implications for Women in Post-Covid-19 Africa”, the chapter builds on these foundations to bring to light the implications for women in post-COVID Africa and the future research directions.

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Literature Review Fintech Research on Women The literature has taken considerable interest in fintech (see Shahbazi & Manteghi, 2019; Suryono et al., 2020). Table 13.1 is an overview of related articles on fintech and women. Within the growing body of research on fintech, women have received scarce attention. Even when women’s issues are touched upon, women are invariably not the focus (e.g., Baber, 2019; Carlin et al., 2017; Demirguc-Kunt et al., 2018). The literature has investigated the benefits of fintech innovations (e.g., Brummer & Gorfine, 2014; Koesworo et al., 2019; Mascarenhas et al., 2021). This body of research also provides regulators and policymakers valuable ideas on how to exploit fintech’s potential for poverty reduction while minimising the digital divide (e.g., Appiah-Otoo & Song, 2021; Zhang et al., 2020). Thus, despite its limited attention to women and fintech per se, recent studies have highlighted the prospects of fintech for women (e.g., DiCaprio et al., 2017; Sioson & Kim, 2019), creating a heightened awareness of how fintech can provide novel products and services to better the lives of women. In this regard, the literature offers Table 13.1 Related literature on fintech and women Thematic areas

Focus

Illustrative studies

Gender

Gender gap in financial inclusion

Sioson and Kim (2019); DiCaprio et al. (2017) Webster (2014); McGee (2018); Stoet and Geary (2018) Shin et al. (2021) Baber (2018); Mohamed et al. (2021) Hazan et al. (2019) Revenga and Shetty (2012) Becker-McNabola (2018) Fernandez and Campero (2017) Sahay et al. (2020)

Gender and technology

Empowerment

Fintech gender gap Fintech in women empowerment

Women in Tech Glass Ceiling

Career Advancement of Women in Fintech Glass ceiling in high-tech firms

Financial inclusion

Fintech and financial inclusion

Source Authors’ compilation

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Table 13.2 Related literature on blockchain and women Thematic areas

Focus

Illustrative studies

Blockchain’s opportunities and risks

Humanitarian settings

Bitcoin SDG Gender

Bitcoin literacy SDG5 Gender and emerging technologies

Women empowerment

Emancipatory technology

Skogvang (2018); Thylin and Duarte (2019) Bannier et al. (2019) Kamath (2018) Stewart Stute (2019); Frizzo-Barker (2020); Ostern (2020) Adams et al. (2019); George and Whitten (2020)

Source Authors’ compilation

valuable clues to uncover the major dimensions of fintech for women in greater depth. Blockchain Research on Women The literature has increasingly taken an interest in blockchain (see Casino et al., 2019; Gorkhali & Shrestha, 2020; Wang et al., 2019). Table 13.2 is an overview of related articles on blockchain and women. However, within the growing body of research on blockchain, women have received limited attention. The literature has investigated the benefits of blockchain technology (e.g., Ali et al., 2021; Ølnes et al., 2017). This body of research also provides regulators and policymakers valuable ideas on how to exploit blockchain’s potential for financial inclusion and transparency (e.g., Lichtfous et al., 2018; Mavilia & Pisani, 2020; Muneeza et al., 2018). Thus, despite its little attention to the link between women and blockchain, the literature has created some awareness of how blockchain can better the lives of women.

Fintech and Women Originated in Kenya and rapidly spreading out to the rest of the continent, the development of digital money was stimulated by systemic actors in Africa (e.g., M-Pesa in Kenya). Africa has witnessed the largest rise in digital payments, with East Africa taking the lead. In the continent,

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fintech takes the form of mobile money—remarkably cutting the cost of remittances transfers by 50% (GSMA, 2016). Fintech has continued to contribute towards closing gender gaps in financial inclusion in many countries, but the concern abounds that gender gaps may increase in the post-COVID era. According to Sahay et al. (2020), stakeholders have noted many barriers that could be higher for women (e.g., cultural or social norms, safety, financial literacy, and gap in access to resources). Considering these structural hurdles, there are concerns that the gender gaps may rise as the move towards digital financial services gathers speed during the Covid-19 crisis. Anecdotal evidence has shown that fintech plays an essential role in alleviating the economic impacts of Covid-19, by enabling fiscal measures to be implemented efficiently and swiftly to their targeted beneficiaries, even to the unbanked (Sahay et al., 2020). By eliminating the need for face-to-face interactions and the need for the exchange of cash, fintech helps governments to quickly and securely reach people and businesses with different forms of liquidity and income support. Even in countries with limited access to banking networks, mobile money networks are deployed to furnish government transfers (e.g., Namibia, Uganda, Zambia). In addition, data collected from mobile payments are used to connect governments to informal workers who are outside formal benefits programmes. For example, in Togo, a new programme targeting informal workers was introduced, whereby transfers are via mobile money, with a top-up for women. According to Sahay et al. (2020, p. 5): “Reaping the benefits of fintech requires a minimum level of investment and those who do not have the means may find themselves financially excluded”. Here, investment refers to “tech capital” (e.g., internet access, mobile phones) and the human capital needed to utilise digital financial services. While fintech grows more sophisticated, unequal access to the desired physical infrastructure (or insufficient human capital) could create a new form of financial exclusion, especially among women. It is true that the Covid-19 shockwave has caused a shift towards digital financial services, but the trend could worsen financial exclusion of those left behind, especially women. Besides, “easy” digital credit could create risks for people (e.g., women) with limited financial literacy (Kaffenberger et al., 2018). Suri and Jack (2016), in a study on the long-term effects of mobile money on economic outcomes (in Kenya), showed that enhanced access

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to mobile money lessened poverty in Kenya, especially among femaleheaded households. The estimates showed that the precipitous growth of mobile money had elevated 2% of Kenyan households out of extreme poverty. This has also empowered 185,000 women to port from subsistence farming to business (or sales). This robust evidence is supported by Ndiaye (2013) which found that women were much more likely to grow their savings in M-Pesa compared to their savings at home. Women could thus better assist their families, expand their businesses, send their children to school, as well as spend on healthcare and better nutrition. Besides, these mobile financial services (e.g., Uganda’s Mo-Kash) empower SMEs and smallholder farmers (of which women represent more than half) to gain access to much-needed microcredit (Genesis Analytics, 2018). It must be emphasised that most fintech innovations in Africa thus far have been generic; few fintech innovations are targeted at women specifically. As highlighted by Women’s World Banking: “the current form of financial services is not necessarily designed to meet women’s needs and a comprehensive digital financial service model that effectively serves low-income women at scale has yet to be developed” (Mondato Insight, 2021, para. 16). However, a few examples of fintech solutions targeted at women have had positive impacts. In terms of health care for women, pioneering innovations includes Access Bank’s “Better Mama Better Pikin” in Nigeria, a mobile wallet which provides micro-savings accompanied by health and life insurance as well as prenatal and postnatal training for expectant mothers. The initiative has reduced infant and maternal mortality by 2% across the participating government institutions (EFMA.com, 2016).

Blockchain and Women In 2018, United Nations World Food Programme started using a blockchain-based system to enable cash transfers to more than 106,000 Syrian refugees (in Jordan), with the aim of making the cash transfers more efficient and secure (World Food Programme, 2020). The women beneficiaries were able to withdraw their cash at their convenience at supermarkets from the cashier. Instead of identification documents, the women can do an iris scan to validate their identity (at the supermarket). A virtual wallet (and a virtual bank account identity) is created on the blockchain for every beneficiary (Smith, 2019). The blockchain has a

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record of payments, which is settled with the supermarkets, resulting in significantly reduced transaction costs. At present, blockchain is still at an exploratory stage in many African countries due to technological access, especially women. It must be noted, however, that some efforts are already in place to enhance women’s access to technology. In South Africa, for example, there is a wave of women-led initiatives aiming to close the gender gap in technology. For example, Code4CT runs 18-month programmes to introduce girls to coding, design, and the technology sector (Strydom, 2016). Likewise, GirlHype, intending to remedy the skewed gender ratio in the technology industry, provides free 7-week programmes to expose girls to coding and technology jobs. However, it must be emphasised that the geographical scale of these efforts has remained insignificant and scattered. In addition, the website “Tech Girl” works to fill the information gap and creates an online space for women to get comfortable with tech (Bradford, 2014). A collaboration between the Mozilla Foundation and UN Women ran a programme (in Cape Town) to enhance women’s web literacy so as to improve their employment opportunities. Globally, women represent 56% of those who lack a bank account, in contrast to 44% for men (Demirguc-Kunt et al., 2018). This lack of access to finance together with lack of ability to transfer assets is a critical barrier to women’s economic activities, even during crises (e.g., during Covid19). Entrepreneurship-wise, women and girls in emerging markets are less likely than men to own a business or obtain assets to earn their living (International Finance Corporation, 2018; UNDP, 2013). Crises such as Covid-19 tend to worsen these disadvantages; women’s livelihoods are often the worst affected, as options become limited (UNDP, 2013). Many women cope in ways that escalate the vulnerability of their situation by selling key assets, pulling children out of school, eating less, and venturing into insecure areas. Cash-based interventions are increasingly being adopted by various governments in Africa to cushion the effects of Covid-19. Typically, cash is transferred via wire transfers to bank accounts, which in Africa becomes challenging owing to the limited banking options and the service fees. Instead, conducting the transfers on a blockchain-enabled network will allow both the sender and the receiver to share a common infrastructure for the transactions, thus fostering more secure and cheap transfers of cash (Ko & Verity, 2016). According to Thylin and Duarte (2019), in the time of crisis, time is essential. The capacity to send and receive

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funds rapidly could be particularly of immense benefit in these critical situations. Blockchain could therefore support governmental efforts to promote the use of cash transfers in crisis responses. Thus, one of the key areas where blockchain could play an essential role is claimed to be the transfer of financial assets (Coppi & Fast, 2019). For women in povertystricken areas in Africa, the lack of access to finance and the lack of ability to transfer assets are grave issues. Many women cannot prove who they are. According to the United Nations, approximately 20% of the world’s population (1.5 billion people) lack any form of identification such as a birth certificate, driver’s licence, or social security card. These include children whose births are not registered and many women in many rural areas in Africa. According to Kshetri (2017, p. 202): “Some countries have a notoriously poor record, even in registering the children born. Estimates suggest that only 44% of children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) economies have been registered. The proportions are even lower in rural areas”. Worse still, to open an account, banks require a variety of other documents besides identification cards (e.g., recommendation letters, proof of the place of residence, and wage slips). For example, to open a checking account, banks in Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zambia demand four or more documents (Beck et al., 2008). In many African countries, a majority of the women lack such papers, especially for those employed in the informal sector. Many people who live in slums in countries such as Nigeria cannot provide utility bills or birth certificates required by banks. These barriers affect women and girls more than men due to economic and social factors (World Bank, 2016). It is unusual to have a large gender gap in the unregistered population in low-income countries, where over 45% of women lack a means of identification compared to 30% of men (Desai et al., 2018). In most cases, scale economies work against disadvantaged groups such as women. Most financial institutions charge fees to maintain accounts or have minimum account requirements. In most parts of Africa, for example, to open a checking account may require “a minimum deposit that is equivalent to 50% of the per capita GDP” (Kshetri, 2017, p. 202). Such high fees would exclude large parts of the population, including most women. Blockchain solutions can be employed to develop offerings appropriate for meeting the needs of women. Blockchain business models will facilitate the economics of small transactions. Using blockchain, financial institutions may have zero or very low marginal cost.

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Implications for Women in Post-Covid-19 Africa The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic could reverse the little progress made on gender equality and women’s rights over the decades. The Covid-19 pandemic offers an opportunity for radical, positive action to address long-standing inequalities in many areas of women’s lives and foster a more just world. Empowering women and girls require the joint efforts of all stakeholders, including technology companies. All fintech and blockchain companies have baseline responsibilities to support the empowerment of women and girls via core business, social investment, partnerships, and public policy engagement. Leaders in the fintech and blockchain sector should develop and adopt policies and practices, and implement cutting-edge initiatives to advance women’s empowerment within their domain and marketplaces. The advent of Covid-19 provides a tremendous opportunity for these firms to further align their strategies and operations with SDG priorities systematically and strategically, scaling up necessary actions which support the development and livelihoods of women and girls. Fintech and blockchain solutions are more flexible than conventional banking services (in terms of lower transaction fees, closer proximity, and simpler credit application processes) and are thus better able to meet women’s individual needs (Genesis Analytics, 2018). For example, in many African communities, women organise themselves into savings groups to informally access financial services (e.g., loans). Fintech and blockchain therefore represent an opportunity to grow these existing practices and augment them with financial technologies that will enable cheaper access to savings accounts, credit, and other financial products. In the context of Africa, fintech and blockchain cannot be understood only in terms of access. The skills gap and literacy determine women’s engagement which, in turn, affects their employment opportunities and overall quality of life (Vidisha et al., 2017). There is a need for enhanced literacy programmes to foster women’s access to fintech and blockchain. Further, policy discourse in Africa must desist from “technological determinism” (the theory that a society’s technology determines the development of its social structure and cultural values). Technology, by itself, cannot empower (Vidisha et al., 2017). It is important that gender and technology experts interact to devise holistic measures. Similarly, the need has been pointed out to promote women as stakeholders, innovators, and end-users in the innovation phases (Global

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Innovation Coalition for Change, 2018). This is highly crucial in the blockchain domain, where developers and experts are mostly men (Vos, 2018) from developed economies. Even though the proportion of women is on the rise and there are initiatives to support women in the blockchain sector (e.g., Women in Blockchain, 2018), more needs to be done. In this light, more women innovators and experts should be encouraged to grow fintech and blockchain. To initiate the use of blockchain in Africa, meaningful engagement with the affected groups is necessary to ensure that the technology can deliver on its promises for empowerment and not further foster discrimination. Local communities and affected women cannot be excluded from the preliminary phases of the blockchain testing under the pretext that they would not understand the technology. Although quite challenging, especially in view of the complexity of the technology, policymakers seeking to explore blockchain in women empowerment must endeavour to ensure participatory approaches and co-creation are in place to engage the affected women and girls from the start, and right through all the phases of the project (Thylin & Duarte, 2019). Many women cannot prove who they are. In this regard, a number of start-ups (e.g., Humaniq, OneName, and BitNation) have launched blockchain-powered digital identity platforms to create and validate the identity of individuals. For example, the blockchain start-up, Humaniq’s Ethereum blockchain-based app, creates user profiles via bio-identification process (e.g., facial and voice recognition algorithms) in 20s. The target audience is people in poor countries with a low level of literacy. A deposit of Humaniq tokens (HMQ) can be used as a medium of exchange, even with third-party services using Humaniq (e.g., insurance, small-business loans, data security, and pensions). To ensure it is within the means of low-income earners, the app runs even on the cheapest Android phones (Kshetri, 2017). The literature has revealed a gap between access and use of fintech and blockchain among men and women (Bedoui & Aaminou, 2021; Shin et al., 2021). This gap underscores the need to help women overcome fintech and blockchain inequality. Special attention is necessary to grow ways to curtail inequality among women. Fintech and blockchain developers should reconsider how they offer adequate opportunities to meet the needs of women, thus reducing the gap. More particularly, special considerations are warranted for women who have experienced the detriments of technological advances to a greater extent than men. Women

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who have not been able to access digital devices (or learn any computer skills) over the years may have a better chance of surviving Covid-19 negative impacts. A community-based educational effort to promote fintech and blockchain technology access and literacy for women is urgently needed to shore up opportunities in the continent. In furtherance to cash-based interventions focused on women, blockchain has potential in programming targeted more broadly at women’s economic empowerment in Africa. For example, it can facilitate the development of mobile banking services for women and girls, which can remove the need for conventional banks, rendering it possible to carry out peer-to-peer transactions, send and receive remittances (or different forms of aid disbursements) or social investments (Thylin & Duarte, 2019). The prospects of these means of using blockchain represent an incentive for African policymakers to explore blockchain-based applications for integration into women empowerment.

Conclusion and Future Research This chapter has explored the opportunities for women and girls associated with the application of fintech and blockchain in the post-COVID Africa. Women have faced many barriers in access to finance in Africa. Blockchain technology and fintech are particularly adapted to the obstacles that women face. Fintech and blockchain can play an essential role in alleviating the economic impacts of Covid-19 for women, by enabling fiscal measures to be implemented efficiently and swiftly to their targeted women beneficiaries, even to the unbanked among them. The chapter therefore argues that policymakers put in place strategies to promote women as stakeholders, innovators, and end-users throughout every phase of fintech and blockchain applications to ensure that women and girls are not left behind. It is also important for researchers to strengthen the evidence base so as to improve the lots of women and girls in the post-COVID Africa. Aside from fintech and blockchain’s technical complexities and inherent risks (see Bürer et al., 2019; Duran & Griffin, 2019; Mo¸steanu & Faccia, 2020), the usage of fintech and blockchain for women cannot be considered in a vacuum; it needs reflection on the pre-existing underlying barriers. Intersectional gender analyses are therefore necessary; these analyses would focus on social norms and power relations, as well as broader societal structures. This is crucial to foresee the key areas of concern and

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risks to be addressed in the usage of fintech and blockchain for women. The onus is thus on researchers to conduct Africa-specific gender analyses to pinpoint the gender inequalities that fuel different vulnerabilities, and how these overlap with other inequalities. Further, these gender analyses should examine both existing and proposed fintech and blockchain applications for potential discriminatory effects.

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CHAPTER 14

Covid-19, Women in Tourism and Sustainable Development: The Nigeria Experience Belinda Nwosu , Elcia Grandcourt, and Lydia Bebe Kum

Introduction The aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and its global impact on the well-being of millions of people is unprecedented. The June 2021 report from the World Health Organization indicates that globally, there have been approximately 176 million confirmed cases of Covid-19, some 3.8 million deaths, and 2.3 billion vaccine doses administered (WHO, 2021). The report also indicates that Africa has had less than 4 million confirmed cases compared to 69 million in the Americas, 55 million in Europe, and 33 million in South East Asia.

B. Nwosu (B) Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected] E. Grandcourt · L. B. Kum World Tourism Organization, Madrid, Spain

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8_14

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The impact of the pandemic has been studied from a wide range of perspectives, including economics (WTO, 2020), agriculture (Siche, 2020), education (Kuhfeld et al., 2020), sustainability (Gulseven et al., 2020), gender equality (Alon et al., 2020), tourism (Baum & Hai, 2020), and the African continent (Ozili, 2020). In this chapter, we intend to explore the integrated impact of the pandemic from three perspectives— African women, tourism, and sustainability. This is considered timely and important as Covid-19 research appears to be developing in silos. As shown in Fig. 14.1, there is a need to bring different perspectives in an integrative approach, which will allow for broader discussions about the way forward. It is a well-established experience that the nature of human dependency requires people to undertake active care roles (Kittay & Szántó, 2003). Though these roles have traditionally been taken up by women, changing social dynamics have led to greater participation by men in these roles (Maume, 2015; Morell & Jewkes, 2011). Nevertheless, the responsibilities for care work are borne, to a large extent, by women. Furthermore, for those women who work outside the home, the reality of balancing care duties with other work duties remains a challenge, especially where there is a failure to accommodate this dual-role within the employment setting (Becker, 1999). Therefore, this study acknowledges and engages the care responsibilities of women in addressing the impacts of the pandemic.

Fig. 14.1 Intersection between Covid-19, African women, tourism and sustainable development

COVID19

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Exploring the nexus between women in tourism and sustainable development through the lens of the pandemic is important and timely. For one, gender equality remains an important theme in any discussion about Africa. Mainly because of its potential effects on indices related to employment (Anyanwu & Augustine, 2013), health (Singh et al., 2013), educational achievement (Chisamya et al., 2012), and others such as domestic violence, migration, conflict, and unpaid work (UN Women, 2021). Secondly, the tourism sector is considered to be a major employer of women, offering opportunities for entrepreneurship and leadership. According to the International Labour Organisation (2018), women constitute 69% of the total tourism workforce in Africa. The contributions of women to the sector are therefore of major significance. Finally, the SDGs were defined to address key development areas for less developed countries to reach their potential. However, the onset of the pandemic has had negative socio-economic and health impacts on these goals (UNWTO, 2020a). Consequently, this chapter addresses the impacts of the pandemic on tourism in Africa. Specifically, the impacts of this pandemic on women and the SDGs in Nigeria, the case country, constitute the main focus. In addition, recommendations for restoring and recovering the tourism sector, and protecting women after the pandemic, are also considered. It is our hope that this chapter will provide academics, policymakers, business persons, and non-governmental organisations with the necessary insights for making decisions that will help to empower African women in the tourism sector. This is an important contribution as the negative impacts of the pandemic continue to reverberate across the world, placing this vulnerable demographic at greater risk. Women, Tourism and Sustainable Development The 2019 World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Global Report on Women and Tourism, hereinafter referred to as UNWTO (2019), contains an action plan and recommendations that address the nexus between women and the tourism sector. Launched at the first UNWTO Regional Congress on Women’s Empowerment in the Tourism Sector that took place in Accra, Ghana, on 25 November 2019, the report examines essential factors that contribute to gender equality in the tourism sector, pinpoints challenges, identifies ways to mitigate inequality, and harnesses tourism’s potential to advance gender equality and women’s

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empowerment worldwide. Drawing from the action plan and key findings from the report, we describe the status of women in the tourism sector and its relationship to sustainable development. Women constitute a larger proportion of the workforce in the tourism sector than in the wider economy. According to UNWTO (2019), women constitute 54% of the global tourism workforce, compared to the World Bank estimate of 39% of the global workforce. In terms of earnings, women in tourism earn 14.7% less than their male counterparts, and 16.8% less when compared to the global workforce. Additionally, as at the time this report was published, 23% of tourism ministerial positions were held by women, compared to 20.7% of global government ministers. From these key findings, we can surmise that women form an important part of the tourism sector. However, their contribution is not adequately represented in their earning power or in leadership. In fact, women today are still very likely to be marginalised both economically and occupationally. The United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda adopted 17 goals for achieving sustainable development by 2030 (UN, 2015). With regard to women in tourism, UNWTO (2019) narrowed these down to 5 SDGs, as shown in Table 14.1 The report describes five thematic areas to illustrate the interactions between tourism and the SDGs: tourism provides decent work for women (SDGs 5 and 8); women’s tourism businesses lead to women’s economic empowerment (SDGs 1 and 5); tourism education and training promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the sector (SDGs 4 and 5); women are leaders in the tourism sector and are represented and influential in decision-making spaces (SDGs 5 and 16); and, tourism empowers women to work collectively for justice and gender equality (SDGs5 and 16). The link between tourism and sustainability also finds support in other research articles (Alarcón & Cole, 2019; Siakwah et al., Table 14.1 Global report on women in tourism: Sustainable development goals (UNWTO, 2019) SDG 1

SDG 4

SDG 5

SDG 8

SDG 16

No poverty

Quality education

Gender equality

Decent work and economic growth

Peace, justice and strong institutions

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2019). From these themes, we can ascertain that tourism is positioned to contribute to greater gender equality and the empowerment of women. Furthermore, tourism may have the potential to contribute, directly or indirectly, to all of the SDGs. However, for the purpose of this study, we will limit these to the SDGs mentioned above. With the adoption of tourism as one of the priority areas under the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), countries in the African Union (AU) have also identified the sector as a tool for sustainable development and inclusive growth. According to the AU Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy, and Tourism, the sector generated 8.5% of the total GDP of Africa, valued at US$160 billion, and employs more than 21 million people (AU, 2018). From here, we identify the tourism sector as strategic in the general agenda for the sustainable development of Africa. Moreover, as we previously highlighted, a high proportion of women are actively engaged in the tourism sector in Africa, which then makes an invaluable contribution to the overall tourism agenda. However, the gender gaps in pay and the under-representation of women in leadership continue to pose a significant challenge (UN, 2021). African Women, Tourism and Leadership UNWTO (2019) report states that, at the time, 23% of tourism ministerial positions in the world were held by women. This is slightly higher than the 21% recorded for global ministerial positions. In addition, there are presently more than 10 ministers in the tourism sector in Africa who are women (UNWTO, 2021a). Women are therefore more likely to have a leadership voice in tourism governance than in other areas. According to a 2016 McKinsey report cited in UNWTO (2019: 91): Some 29 per cent of senior management positions in private transportation, logistics and the tourism sector in Africa are held by women, while only 17% of women occupy board positions. Only 31 per cent of CEOs in African companies surveyed saw gender as a top strategic priority, while 25 per cent did not perceive it as a priority, implying slow progress in promoting gender equality among African companies.

UNWTO (2019: 67) also states that one benefit that has been accrued from the presence of women in tourism is “countries with female tourism ministers tend to have a higher score on the Global Gender Gap Index

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political empowerment score than those with a male tourism minister”. This seems to imply that tourism governance is becoming more inclusive. Some initiatives to improve the tourism leadership landscape have also been implemented in several countries. For example, in Cape Verde, an action plan for gender mainstreaming in tourism was developed, where institutional reforms, education and training, and the empowerment of women were prioritised. In another example, at a meeting of UNWTO Commission for Africa (CAF) in 2017, female tourism ministers inaugurated a leadership task force for women’s empowerment in the tourism sector. Nonetheless, with women in Africa representing more than 50% of the population, the majority of them still have vulnerable and lowskills jobs (UNWTO, 2020a). Therefore, we conclude that there is still an under-representation of women in positions of governance and influence in the tourism sector. The Covid-19 Pandemic and Tourism The Covid-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented global emergency that has impacted not only health but also social and economic indicators. According to UNWTO (2021b), as a result of the global restrictions on the movement of people, international tourism experienced an 83% decline in Q1 of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. Moreover, an estimated US$930 billion in revenue losses was recorded in 2020. The resulting impact on the economies of countries and livelihoods of people has been devastating. This is made more apparent where significant progress has been made in advancing the sustainability agenda for tourism (Siakwah et al., 2019). According to a United Nations (2020) policy brief on the impact of Covid-19 on women, the pandemic would impact women in the areas of earnings, as they earn and save less, work under insecure conditions and in poverty; reduced access to adequate health care; lead to unpaid care work, and more likely, experience gender-based violence resulting from forced restrictions during the lockdowns. Since then, the predictions have proven true. For example, as a direct consequence of the pandemic, in the United States, an estimated one-third of women either lost their jobs or were furloughed (LeanIn, 2020); the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Spain, and Brazil experienced a spike in domestic violence (Bradbury-Jones & Isham, 2020); and a rise in cases of anxiety among pregnant women in Ireland (Corbett et al., 2020).

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However, there is still little research on the impact of the pandemic in Africa (Muragu et al., 2021), and even less so for women in tourism. There is some evidence from South Africa that job losses from the pandemic are higher among women than men (Rogerson & Rogerson, 2020). Given that women in tourism are often concentrated in lowskilled or informal work, they have experienced the strongest impact of the economic shock caused by the crisis. This is also confirmed by Balde et al. (2020) who carried out a study of the pandemic across three countries in sub-Saharan Africa—Mali, Senegal, and Burkina Faso. Their results showed positive effects between people working informal high-risk jobs (e.g., tourism) and those who experienced job losses. Generally, women in crisis are cut off from the social, economic and healthcare protections that are so vital in a global pandemic (Burki, 2020). We can surmise that the pandemic has put at risk the achievement of the SDGs for African women in the tourism sector, and beyond. No doubt, the tourism sector has rebounded fairly quickly after facing severe crises like natural disasters, political instability, economic downturns, and pandemics (e.g., Gurtner, 2016; Mansfeld, 1999; Sharma et al., 2021; Tsai et al., 2016). However, despite its historical resilience, and coupled with the high employment indices for women, policymakers and actors must be realistic in defining action plans for the socio-economic recovery of the region.

A Case Study of Nigeria In the preceding paragraphs, we have attempted to outline the role of tourism in the African context, the impact of Covid-19 on the sector and on sustainable development as it affects women. In this section, we present a case study of women leaders in the tourism sector in Nigeria. Using Nigeria as the study country, we intend to arrive at key themes and results that shed light on the nature of the problem and to proffer evidence-based recommendations for restarting the tourism sector. The Tourism Sector in Nigeria—An Overview With a population of close to 200 million, Nigeria is one of the two largest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2019, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was US$450 billion compared to South Africa’s US$351 billion (World Bank, 2020). The economic profile of Nigeria shows a

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traditional reliance on the oil and gas sector. Over 80% of exports in Nigeria are oil-related, while 50% of government revenues derive from oil (World Bank, 2021). Interestingly, the latest report by the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (2021) outlined that economic growth in Nigeria depends to a large extent on attracting investments to other sectors to limit this dependence on oil. These were identified as manufacturing, construction, trade, education, health, and professional services with ICT and renewable energy. It is interesting to note the exclusion of tourism as an important economic sector in this report. This seems to reinforce Baum et al. (2016) who make reference to the continued neglect of the tourism sector’s contributions to sustainable development. According to the 2020 World Travel and Tourism Council report, the Travel and Tourism sector contributed 4.5% of Nigeria’s total GDP and 3.4 million jobs to the economy (WTTC, 2020). In 2019, the number of additional passengers added to the domestic market rose by 48% to 1.7 million (IATA, 2020). Furthermore, Nigeria is ranked second on the continent in terms of the hotel chain development pipeline in Africa, accounting for 14% of the total pipeline at 9,000 hotel rooms (W Hospitality, 2021). Despite these positive indices, the tourism sector in Nigeria remains largely underdeveloped. Nwosu (2016) suggests that this state of affairs persists due to the lack of institutional frameworks, public policy and legislation, advocacy and human capital needed to reposition the sector and contribute to the diversification of the economy. The impact of Covid-19 on the world economies is well documented. For the Nigerian economy, the combined effect of the global recession and the global pandemic led to the four-year high in the recession index in the second quarter of 2020 (World Bank, 2021). During this period, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that unemployment rose by 27%, thereby exacerbating poverty levels (NBS, 2020). The tourism sector was also hard hit. The pandemic caused the government to introduce a general lockdown from April 2020. Both major international airports, Lagos and Abuja, were running skeletal operations, while the hospitality sector was virtually shut down. There were some exceptions in Lagos, where several hotels operated as quarantine centres for evacuees and returnees and provided accommodation for essential service workers. Several studies have raised concerns about the impact of the pandemic on the UN SDGs (Leal Filho et al., 2020; Galvani et al., 2020; Pan & Zhang, 2020). Of particular concern is the effect on the less developed countries of the world, where implementing SDGs has been a priority

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in order to protect vulnerable populations (Leal Filho et al., 2020). Of specific interest to this chapter is the study of women, who form a significant proportion of these vulnerable populations outlined in SDG 5 (gender equality). Gulseven et al. (2020) proffer that although the pandemic has impacted both men and women, existing structures of gender inequality have led to worse outcomes for women in terms of discrimination, loss of economic status, domestic violence, and unpaid care work. Methodology We conducted a pilot study that would provide useful insights for conducting a broader study in the future. The aim was not to provide statistical evidence, but to unearth issues that women faced during the pandemic, and provide directions for a future study. This approach of using pilot studies to conceptualise a research topic is supported in the literature (Kim, 2010). In order to arrive at an understanding of the general impacts of the pandemic on women, a survey instrument was adopted from the UN Women survey of Covid-19 impacts in Turkey (Kalaylio˘glu et al., 2020). The rationale for the use of this survey instrument for a study in Africa was based on the fact that all items in the survey referred to women in general, regardless of the country of origin. The adapted version comprised of one section with 45 multiple-choice items related to the family, economic, social, cultural, and career contexts of women during the pandemic. Once again, we reiterate that care work is an important contribution to the discussions about the impacts of the pandemic on African women in the tourism sector. The second section of the survey instrument had four open-ended questions. Respondents were asked to suggest what tourism sector policies should be developed in order to protect women from future pandemics; and the recovery strategies needed at the national, business, and individual levels. A purposive sample of 26 women leaders in the tourism sector in Nigeria was drawn from the researcher’s network. This sample included executives of tourism organisations, business owners, and some government officials. Given the general state of affairs with regard to restricted movement and social distancing, the survey was administered online. The analysis involved the use of simple frequencies and a cross-tabulation.

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A profile of respondents shows that the majority of women work in the hospitality sector (17). Other represented sectors include travel facilitation and information (4), and single representations of the transportation, training, HR, carnivals, and advisory services sectors (5). Additionally, prior to the spread of Covid-19, most respondents either worked for an employer (17) or had their own businesses (8). Only one respondent was in the process of launching a business before the pandemic started. Results and Discussion In the following sections, we detail the results from the multiple-choice questions, followed by the open-ended questions on the survey instrument. As previously mentioned in the methodology section, this study was carried out as a pilot exercise with the intention of exploring emerging themes with implications for practice and future research. The Impact of Covid-19 on Nigerian Women in Tourism Five main themes emerged from the survey, which were then grouped into: family and home, personal health and well-being, work and career, finances, and work location. Family and Home The highest proportion of hours spent by women on family and homerelated tasks during the pandemic was on homeschooling (8) and providing emotional care to family members (7). Respondents also experienced an increase in the number of hours allocated to childcare (16) and domestic chores (22). In terms of support for these tasks, this came from partners (9), children (9), and domestic help (9). Interestingly, considering the nature of the pandemic, the results show that illness (7) and death (3) in the families of respondents were relatively low. Finally, 13 respondents faced some difficulties accessing health services for the family during the pandemic, while 10 faced none at all. Personal Health and Well-Being 20 respondents indicated that their work–life balance was affected by the pandemic. Interestingly, only one respondent experienced some form of discrimination or prejudice during the pandemic. All respondents indicated that they had not experienced any form of domestic violence

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directed at themselves, but 18 of them had heard of incidences of domestic violence during the pandemic. In terms of personal health, more respondents admitted to having experienced more mental health issues (16) than physical illness (5). Finally, respondents found more difficulties in accessing social services (16) compared to medical services (14). Work and Career Before the start of the pandemic, 22 out of the 26 respondents were either working as employees in a tourism organisation (16) or as entrepreneurs (6), while others worked in non-specified capacity (4). During the pandemic, 15 out of 26 respondents were compelled to go on forced leave. Overall, only 2 respondents lost their jobs during the pandemic. Additionally, onsite work continued to operate for a majority of respondents (17) compared to those who adapted to working remotely (5). Finally, as a result of the pandemic, only 7 out of the 26 respondents experienced an outright disruption to their careers while the majority did not experience any major disruption (19). Finances The results also show that during the pandemic, businesses either experienced some downsizing (17), or were closed completely (2). Interestingly, some businesses experienced no change at all (5), or even a positive increase in patronage (2). Also, respondents’ income from either their jobs (12) or businesses (14) decreased during the pandemic. In addition, for those women forced to go on leave, the results show a variation in the status of paid leave—3 were fully paid, 7 were paid partially, while 5 did not receive any pay. As a result of the pandemic, respondents also experienced a variety of difficulties related to their economic situation. The results indicate that overall, respondents experienced difficulties in their attempts to meet basic expenses (21) and household expenses (19) and to pay rent and utilities (20). Finally 16 respondents experienced difficulties in accessing soft loans during this period. Work Location Table 14.2 shows that when work–life balance and work location were combined in a cross-tabulation, respondents who worked onsite during the pandemic experienced work–life imbalances more adversely (12) than those who continued at their onsite work locations (4). For respondents

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Table 14.2 Work–life balance versus work location Work–life balance has been affected

Work location has changed

Total

Working from home Still go out for work Always worked from home Other

Yes, adversely

Yes, somewhat

Hardly

Not at all

Total

2

2

1

0

5

5

8

3

1

17

0

1

0

1

2

1 8

1 12

0 4

0 2

2 26

who had always worked from home, the adjustments to the new reality met with less adverse changes to their work–life balance. Discussion of Impacts With respect to the family and home responsibilities during the pandemic, women experienced an increase in caring responsibilities. Apart from domestic chores, the need to coordinate home-schooling activities and provide emotional support for family members took a significant proportion of their time. However, for this sample of women, the results show that the immediate and extended family structure provided them with some support in carrying out these activities. For some, the presence of domestic workers also contributed some form of support. From here, we can deduce that the nature of the support structures at the micro-level go a long way in helping women meet their obligations to their families. In addition, the low incidence of illness or death in the family for these women could perhaps be a reflection of the generally low Covid19 infection rates recorded in Africa when compared to Europe, South East Asia, and North America (WHO, 2021). Nonetheless, the reference to the difficulties in accessing health services points out the gaps in the primary health systems in Nigeria. Without leaving things to chance, it is expedient for health authorities and local governments to improve access to basic health services, not just during a pandemic but also in

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normal circumstances. This will ensure a healthier and more productive population. The personal health and well-being impact of the pandemic on this sample of women are insightful. While the majority attested to the challenges in achieving a work-life balance during the pandemic, these women still did not consider the amount of work to be unreasonable. This could perhaps imply certain resilience among these women. However, other results showed that a number of these women suffered some form of mental health issue during the pandemic. At first glance, it is reasonable to conclude that the effort to balance a growing number of responsibilities in Covid-19 setting was a major stressor for women. However, it is also important to highlight that the pandemic was also characterised by the high incidence of fake news, mass hysteria, and uncertainties, coupled with lockdown restrictions (Ho et al., 2020). These factors may also have precipitated feelings of mental stress among these women. For work and career-related impacts, we find that most women were forced to scale back on their jobs or businesses during the pandemic. This finding shows that women in Nigeria were not exempt from the effects of the global shutdown of tourism as a whole. Clearly, one of the impacts of the pandemic is that women have been set back in the workplace and in business. This is corroborated by UNWTO (2019). However, what comes to light here is that the extent to which careers and businesses were affected by the pandemic is not uniform across the sample. An equal proportion of women worked more hours while others worked fewer hours. This suggests that the impact of the pandemic differed by circumstance. Additionally, the disparity between the women who experienced a disruption to their careers and those who did not also brings these differences to the fore. Consequently, a taxonomy of tourism businesses and the disruptions caused by the pandemic might provide more insights into how these differed across the sector. For instance, which businesses or job types are more prone to disruption than others, and how this could be mitigated or prevented in the future. The economic impact of the pandemic on women who participated in this survey was a general decrease in income. This was made more acute by the fact that the main sources of income for these women involved their jobs or business. Consequently, these women encountered difficulties accessing funds to address basic living and household expenditures (Alon et al., 2021). Thus, we can conclude here that the pandemic led to increased economic hardship among women in Nigeria. As had previously

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reiterated, the impacts were not the same for all the women, but differed in intensity depending on individual circumstances. Finally, the emergence of the new reality of working from home created new dynamics for women during the pandemic (UN, 2020). Work–life imbalances were felt more acutely by those women who found themselves working from home. Understandably, the adjustment from ideal working conditions in the office, to one with constant domestic distractions was a difficult one for most women in this sample. Interestingly, the work–life balance of women who had always worked from home was not affected by this pandemic. From here, we can deduce that these women may have achieved the needed balance through experience. This time to adjust was just not possible when the pandemic started and lockdowns were enforced. Conversely, the pressures of more work related to caring duties and domestic chores increased for those working onsite. This appears to be logical as these tasks would still require the attention of the primary caregiver, even though she receives support while at work outside the home. Proactive Responses by Nigerian Women in the Tourism Sector to the Covid-19 Pandemic In the previous section, we presented and discussed the findings of the impact of the pandemic on Nigerian women in tourism. In this next section, we present and discuss the findings from the second part of the survey, where respondents made their contributions about developing tourism policies to protect women from future pandemics and recommended recovery strategies at the national, business, and individual levels. Polices to Protect Women Against Future Pandemics The contributions of the respondents with respect to developing policies to ameliorate the impact of future pandemics on women in tourism can be condensed into five themes: financial, job security, anti-discrimination, social services, and education. Financial One of the dominant themes to emerge from the contributions relates to financial support. It is clear that one of the strongest impacts of the pandemic was on the economic well-being of people.

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There is a need to set up an emergency funds purse for pandemics in the tourism sector “To set up a cooperative that will assist financially in situations like pandemics” “Financial support in forms of loans or grants” Policies to provide financial assistance to women who have lost their jobs Set aside revenues to take care of continuous salaries for staff during a pandemic Introduce adequate welfare packages

Here, we can identify that the tourism sector needs to develop a crisis management strategy that includes the possibility of future pandemics occurring. Respondents feel that the creation of a fund will support the sector in the event of any future disruptions like Covid-19. This fund should be able to provide women with financial aid needed to keep their businesses afloat or to augment the income needed to support their families. Also, tourism organisations should review their financial models to factor in how to manage employee remuneration or welfare packages with reduced revenues. The case here may be likened to the adage that refers to “saving for a rainy day”. Clearly, several, if not all, tourism organisations were caught off-guard by this pandemic. With these suggestions, there may well be a softer landing for women in the tourism sector, should there be another pandemic. Job Security One characteristic outcome of the pandemic was the number of job losses in the tourism sector (UN, 2021). Consequently, respondents identified that policies are needed to prevent such losses in the future. Policies are needed to prevent job losses in tourism for women There should be job security Provide job loss insurance Such policies should include incentive programmes for job retention through wage subsidies and/or social security and other fiscal payment reliefs. Income support schemes such as unemployment benefits need to be given or extended

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There appears to be a need for an integrative and strategic approach to addressing this issue of job security. Once again, tourism sector organisations need to strategise and formulate systems that will allow for the better management of crisis situations. For many women in Nigeria, the lockdown restrictions meant that businesses shut down and employees were sent home without any form of support. The tourism sector needs to develop more humane policies that do not resort to job losses as the only solution, though it is difficult to imagine a pandemic without job losses. Perhaps realistically, redefining severance packages or offering furloughs instead of outright job losses could be some of the solutions. For this to happen, a lot of forward-thinking is needed based on the experiences of the past year. Anti-Discrimination A third theme to emerge relates to discrimination that women have faced prior to, and also during the pandemic. There should be zero tolerance to gender discrimination in the tourism sector Policies should affirm equal opportunities for all and gender equality Policies that ensure that financial aid is available to women regardless of their marital status Remuneration package equality Sexual harassment policies

This gender-based discrimination requires targeted policies to address specific forms that manifest in the workplace. It is imperative for tourism organisations to rise above these forms of covert discrimination. As we have mentioned earlier, women constitute 64% of the tourism workforce in Africa (ILO, 2018). If these and other forms of gender discrimination are adequately addressed, more women need to be involved in policy decisions. Social Protection The fourth theme presents the need for policies that provide social support to women. This support has and will continue to be crucial for any level of sustainable recovery to be achieved in tourism. Since women

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form a significant part of the tourism workforce, the recovery of the sector depends to a large extent on the well-being of women. Provision of support centres Policies that offer protection to women against domestic violence Social safety nets for women, disabled and those with children/dependants Emotional health support towards managing stress and anxiety Work life balance policies

Clearly, the provision of support centres or structures to help women manage their personal, family and work lives is important. As seen from the earlier discussion on the impact of Covid-19 on women, their role as primary caregivers has created stressful conditions in combining this with their work responsibilities. The policies on the protection of vulnerable groups transcend the sector alone and need to be scaled up to reach national legislation. However, the tourism sector should work to create well-being programmes that women can participate in. These will prepare women to face the challenges that go with working under stressful conditions. Government Interventions The need for government-level policies emerged as a fifth theme. It is logical that governments, be these at the local, regional, or national level, need to be actively involved in creating a conducive environment for economic activities to develop and thrive. Consequently, respondents pointed out that if women are to be protected from future pandemics, then governments need to enact several proactive policies.

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Government interventions should be made available and easy to access The government should support strategies to insulate businesses from such pandemics Strengthen the health sector through women-focused health programs (cancer screening and awareness, reduction in maternal mortality) and improve pharmaceutical supply chains Develop vaccine research competency in-country Develop educational and awareness programmes about pandemics

We can deduce from these contributions that it is one thing to have a series of government interventions, and quite another to have access to them. During the 2020 lockdown in Nigeria, there were many news accounts of the bailouts and palliatives that the government had organised to support the economy (KPMG, 2020). The question remains as to how far these measures reached the businesses and people in need. Thus, the reference to ease of access is an important one. The nature of the pandemic has put a strain on health care systems globally. Although the health impact of the pandemic in Nigeria and other regions of Africa has been relatively muted, there is still a need to reinforce the existing healthcare system to avoid the occurrence of mass infections in the future. Recommended Recovery Strategies from the Covid-19 Pandemic Respondents provided their suggestions about recovery strategies for the tourism sector as it affects women. These strategies are discussed in the following section, grouped under recovery at the individual, business, and national levels. Recovery Strategies at the Individual Level Six themes emerged at the individual level as shown in Table 14.3. These include mental health, self-development, empowerment, professional development, entrepreneurship, and financial. We find that a recovery strategy at the individual level is multifaceted. Strengthening the mental health of women in tourism is important, given the roles that women have played during this pandemic. Both as primary caregivers and members of a work community, the effects of major stressors need to be managed properly to ensure mental and physical well-being. As detailed above, achieving self-development milestones

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Table 14.3 Recovery strategies at the individual level Mental health

Self-development

Empowerment

Professional development

Entrepreneurship

Financial

“women should prioritise their mental health” “look for emotional support when you need to” “reduce the stress of supporting other people’s emotional needs” “decide your working hours” “seek professional help” “be pro-active and creative” “develop initiative” “have a focus” “have a Plan B” “develop self-reliance” “women need more autonomy to manage their own lives” “women’s empowerment is vital to sustainable development and the realisation of human rights for all” “tourism is a tool to empower women” “empower yourself economically, educationally and politically” “read and learn about the new trends/skills in your business” “attend business coaching sessions” “continuous capacity building” “upgrade relevant and essential skill set” “develop and build small businesses” “diversify your income” “do not depend solely on tourism … I’m diversifying into printing” “women need to have more disposable income”

also supports the recovery process, as navigating the new reality requires creativity, being proactive and focused. Empowerment requires women to take ownership of the recovery of the tourism sector. Traditional systems have looked to the non-involvement of women in the decision-making process. Given that women form a significant proportion of the tourism sector, their voices need to be heard. The contribution of women to the recovery of the sector is critical. Nevertheless, for this to happen, women need to invest in their professional development; to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to take on leadership roles in the sector. There is increasing access to educational and professional development programmes through the Internet, which makes this goal more achievable. Entrepreneurship as a form of empowerment also provides women with an opportunity to achieve economic independence and to be actively

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involved in decisions that affect their professional and family lives. The recovery post-pandemic may also require a transition from employment to business. Finally, increasing the number of women who are more financially independent will contribute faster to the recovery process. Recovery Strategies at the Level of Individual Tourism Businesses Four main themes emerged from the contributions about recovery strategies at the level of individual tourism business (Table 14.4). We find that the recovery of tourism businesses will require access to funding. Given the global slowdown and impact on the tourism sector, several businesses require an injection of funds to survive this period. Recovery, therefore, is tied to accessing these funds. Also, with the advent of the pandemic, tourism businesses have had to rethink their existing business strategies. The transformation of what was a “social” sector to a “social distanced” sector has had several repercussions on how business is run. Rethinking models will need brainstorming teamwork, retraining, and reskilling. From strategy to policy refinement, tourism Table 14.4 Recovery strategies at the level of individual tourism business Funding

Business strategy

Gender equality

Human capital development

“support funding would be required to kick off again” “soft loans should be made available to small businesses” “access to loans and grants” “diversification of business models” “alternative revenue streams” “strategy sessions with business owners to refine direction, training and exposure to opportunities and how to harness these” “strategies to thrive and be sustainable in a post pandemic world” “give women more autonomy to manage their own lives” “women should be given a chance to grow in leadership roles” “women should not feel disadvantaged by raising a family” “capacity development for work diversity” “training and empowerment”

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businesses need to incorporate in an equitable manner, the contributions of all stakeholders. Women should be given an opportunity to lead the recovery process without fear of discrimination. Finally, the need to develop human capital that can support the tourism sector in the new reality requires knowledge. Businesses need to take advantage of this and develop their workforce to achieve new insights for moving the sector forward post-pandemic. Recovery Strategies at the National Level Five themes emerge from the contributions by respondents to the question of recovery strategies from the pandemic at the national level. These include government involvement, the provision of palliatives, formulating equitable gender policies, developing the healthcare sector, and investing in training and development programmes (see Table 14.5). At the national level, the government has an important role to play in the recovery process by creating dialogues between the different stakeholders in the tourism sector. By means of these dialogues, it will be easier Table 14.5 Recovery strategies at the national level Involvement

Palliatives

Gender equality

Healthcare Training & Development

“convene a dialogue between stakeholders” “the government needs a tourism buy-in” “stimulate the economy by reducing inflation and investing in other sectors” “diversify the economy” “build the infrastructure” “tax relief” “assist women in business start-ups” “provide bailout funds to cushion the pandemic effect on business income” “allow more women in leadership positions in tourism” “special credit lines could be introduced for women tourism entrepreneurs” “priority to women-owned enterprises in public procurement” “enact family friendly policies” “proper infrastructure should be put in place” “affordable healthcare for all” “financial and training support” “business development training and funding” “post-COVID trainings and workshops”

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and faster to arrive at workable solutions for the future. However, for this to happen, respondents feel that the government needs to understand and appreciate the viability of the tourism sector to economic development. With this understanding will come the motivation to work on the necessary tourism infrastructure and improve the wider development indices so as to attract traffic to the country. One concrete step for achieving these goals is establishing a tourism agency to oversee the recovery of the sector and to liaise with the private sector. Hopefully, this will lead to the establishment of programmes and allow for an injection of much-needed funding into restarting tourism in Nigeria. Following on from this, the provision of palliatives such as bailout funding, tax relief packages, job loss insurance schemes, and assisting women-led start-ups will go a long way in cushioning the negative effects of pandemic that we have previously outlined. The vital contributions of women to tourism in Africa necessitate that government policies should allow for greater inclusion and representation of women at the national level. This will lead to more gender-friendly initiatives that take into cognisance the challenges that women face regarding access to funding, achieving a work—life balance, and workplace discrimination. Another critical consideration on the path to recovery is the need for a robust healthcare infrastructure that will help mitigate the spread of the Covid-19 infections and aid the effective treatment of those who are already infected by it. Women form the majority of the tourism workforce and are at the frontline. Access to vaccines should be made a priority for women in the sector. Also, in order to implement the most meaningful strategies, there is an additional need for manpower training in all these aforementioned areas. The government is called upon to facilitate the process for the private sector to get involved with training and development of women in entrepreneurship, business skills and in navigating a post-pandemic future. Discussion of Policy and Recovery Strategies From the study, five general themes emerged—financial, job security, anti-discrimination, social services, and education. These summarised the policies that women surveyed considered critical for protecting women in the tourism sector from future pandemics. Restoring and recovering the tourism sector at the level of the individual resulted in six additional themes—mental health, self-development, empowerment, professional development, entrepreneurship, and finance. At the level of individual tourism business, four main themes—funding, business strategy, policy

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direction, and human capital development were identified. For the contributions at the national level, five themes—government involvement, the provision of palliatives, formulating equitable gender policies, developing the healthcare sector, and investing in training and development programmes—were established. On closer inspection, it is possible to identify an interrelationship between some of the themes. Consequently, we condensed them to establish the 8-point thematic framework for this study. However, we found that new technologies and consumer concerns, as recommended by UNWTO (2020b), were absent. In the context of the global economy, these themes should be considered critical for any recovery strategy to succeed. As a result, we include these three themes and establish a 10point thematic framework that establishes the main recommendations for restoring and recovering the tourism sector, and protecting women after the pandemic. This is outlined in Table 14.6. With this framework, we recommend that stakeholders in the tourism sector in Africa convene to discuss the implementation of the thematic framework. African nations may include variables in this framework that fit their context for quick recovery. We believe that the role of government is to facilitate this meeting at the national level and that this should be done in tandem with relevant intergovernmental tourism organisations like UNWTO and its member countries. Secondly, for tourism organisations in Africa, there is a need to create a synergy of purpose in addressing the outcomes of the pandemic. By using this framework as an action plan, both at the national and local levels, navigating the negative impacts of the pandemic will be better focused and hence, more effective. Finally, for women in tourism, this framework will allow for a holistic and proactive Table 14.6 Thematic framework for policy and recovery strategies for women in the tourism sector in Africa

Equitable gender policies and empowerment (SDG 5) Financial support Training and development Health care services Entrepreneurship Business strategy National tourism agenda Government relief packages New technologies Consumer concerns

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approach to alleviating the challenges the pandemic has raised within the African context.

Conclusion Ten themes emerged from this study to relate the impacts of the Covid19 pandemic to African women in tourism and sustainable development. Our findings show tourism to be a key driver of sustainable development for women in Africa. It is a key source of employment for women, and a model for women leader representation in the world. However, the pandemic has heightened gender inequality in several socio-economic indices. If progress is to be made in addressing the negative impacts of the pandemic, then there is a need to review and implement the recommendations made by the stakeholders in the tourism sector.

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CHAPTER 15

ICT for Sustainable Development and Women Empowerment: A Post-pandemic Strategy Benjamin Mwanzia Mulili and Jane Wanjira Njuguna

Introduction The outbreak of infectious diseases has been a common feature of societies throughout history (Huremovi´c, 2019). For instance, the Spanish flu of 1918–1920 claimed the lives of nearly 50 million people (Johnson & Mueller, 2002; Flecknoe et al., 2018). While pandemics are associated with negative effects such as loss of human life, they also lead to advances in science, innovation, economy, and politics (Scheidel, 2017). Pandemics affect people on several continents or across the globe at the same time, and responses to them tend to be almost similar, ranging from vaccinating people to containing the diseases through home confinements,

B. M. Mulili (B) Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya e-mail: [email protected] J. W. Njuguna Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

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isolation of the infected persons, travel and mobility restrictions, closure of workstations including that of educational institutions, and the imposition of social distancing rules (Lorente et al., 2020). The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), an infectious disease whose symptoms include dry cough, tiredness, fever, sore throat, pain, and severe respiratory complications, was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 (Abel & McQueen, 2020; World Health Organization (WHO), 2020a). The disease spread rapidly throughout the world, forcing the WHO to declare it a global pandemic on 11th March 2020 (Cucinotta & Vanelli, 2020). Governments in numerous countries sought to curb the spread and effects of the disease by, among others, closing educational institutions and entertainment joints, encouraging remote working, requiring people to wear face masks and keep social distance, restricting domestic and international travelling, increasing border controls, testing people, tracing people who had contacts with those infected, and placing the infected persons into quarantine facilities (Nafula et al., 2020). In extreme cases, particularly when the positivity rate exceeded 5%, some governments such as Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe declared lockdowns and curfews (Smith, 2020). For instance, the Kenyan government imposed a dusk to dawn curfew on 27th March 2020 although both the curfew hours and areas locked kept on being adjusted throughout much of the same year and into the first quarter of the year 2021 (Chukunzira, 2020). Globally, the pandemic forced over 160 countries to temporarily close their schools, thereby affecting about 1.6 billion learners (UN, 2020a). All these measures had a negative effect on women’s entrepreneurial activities. Unfortunately, some people chose to ignore the advice of public health officials, and this made the effects of the pandemic worse for all because the infected persons kept on infecting others. Even where most people chose to follow the recommended health instructions, they were still confronted with negative effects that, in some cases, included loss of employment or income opportunities, and these created the need to develop new social and economic systems, leading to what is often referred to as the new normal (ILO, 2021). Considering that the precautionary strategies are not sustainable in the long run, new strategies are needed bearing in mind that the lifetime of pandemics is never certain. Rohwerder (2020) predicts that the Covid-19 pandemic and the responses to it will have unprecedented long-lasting health and economic effects across the globe.

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Coronavirus impacts women, girls, men, and boys differently (Wenham et al., 2020). While more men have died from the virus (Jin et al., 2020; World Bank Group, 2020b), women and girls have been exposed to increased burden to care for those affected by the pandemics, greater disruptions in income and educational opportunities, inadequate access to health and other essential services, higher chances of losing their land and other properties, and wider pay gaps (Power, 2020). In a UN (2020b) Policy Brief on Impacts of Covid-19 on Women, it is indicated that women aged 25–34 years globally are 25% more likely than men to live in extreme poverty. For women already living in poverty, including the elderly, refugees, migrants, and persons living with disabilities, these impacts make it difficult for them to access critical necessities like medicine and food. For instance, according to Ochieng (2020), the pandemic has caused disruptions in the production and marketing of foodstuffs. The UN Women East and Southern Africa (2020) notes that, like in many disaster settings, women’s health, livelihoods, and integrity were jeopardised by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Boserup et al. (2020) and the World Bank Group (2020b), inter alios, the pandemic has led to increased cases of domestic and sexual violence, sex trafficking, sexual harassment, and, in some instances, coercion by landlords to vacate rented houses. Loss of income opportunities and movement restrictions are some of the factors contributing to this situation. However, even with these challenges, ICT provides a viable option to empower women and facilitate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nevertheless, women face challenges in the use of ICT, and these include limited access to ICT and low digital literacy.

Women Empowerment There is no consensus on what constitutes women’s empowerment. Among the common indicators used to measure women empowerment are the ability to make choices under conditions in which the choices were previously denied (Kabeer, 1999), ability to attain instrumental outcomes such as improvements in health and nutrition (Essilfie et al., 2020), control over sexuality and fertility (James-Hawkins et al., 2018), and mitigation and prevention of partner violence (Miedema et al., 2016). According to UN Women (2020), women empowerment is based on seven principles that revolve around women’s activities in the marketplaces, workplaces, and the communities in which they live. The first

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principle advocates the creation of high-level corporate leadership that enables gender equality while the second requires all people to be treated fairly at their places of work, meaning that they should be supported and not discriminated against. The third principle seeks to ensure the health, well-being, and safety of all workers irrespective of their gender, while the fourth principle advocates the promotion of education, training, and professional development for women. The aim of the fifth principle is to implement supply chain networks, marketing practices, and enterprise development activities that empower women. The sixth principle seeks to champion equality through community initiatives and advocacy, while the seventh principle aims to measure and publicly report on the progress made in the process of achieving gender equality. A similar argument is advanced by UN Women Asia and Pacific (2021), which considers women empowerment to consist of five components, namely women’s sense of self-worth, the right to have and determine choices, the right to have opportunities and resources, the right to control their own lives, and the ability to influence the direction of social change in the process of creating better social and economic systems. On the basis of the foregoing argument, the authors of this chapter consider women empowerment to occur when women access the same opportunities as their male counterparts in education, employment, property ownership, credit facilities, remuneration, governance, and leadership at all levels of the society. Some women are able to support their families and communities by using their incomes obtained through either self or paid employment, or both. Women empowerment is, therefore, linked to the achievement of the SDGs. In order to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all, development initiatives should consider the unique needs, knowledge, contribution, and potential possessed by women. The aim of SDG 5 is to achieve gender equality and empowerment for all women, and it seeks to, among others, ensure the use of ICT to promote women empowerment. Similarly, SDG 4 advocates for equal opportunities in education for both boys and girls. Access to education and ICT enables women to achieve some level of independence. Such women are able to own assets, make their own choices, protect themselves, and lead lives that are free from all sorts of violence and discrimination (UN women, 2020). Empowerment increases self-confidence, social status, and the overall productivity of women, transforming them from being dependents to being independent resource providers. Empowerment is multifaceted as it touches on

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the cognitive, economic, legal, psychological, political, and social-cultural dimensions of human life (Valarmathi & Hepsipa, 2014). The principles and dimensions of women empowerment highlighted here have been negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the adoption of ICT is envisaged to remedy the situation.

Current Status of Women Empowerment in Africa In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), women face deeply rooted obstacles in the process of achieving their potential at work and in other aspects of life. One of these challenges is persistent gender inequalities in a wide range of areas, and this can lower a country’s ability to develop and reduce poverty (Workneh, 2020; World Bank Group, 2018). According to the African Development Bank (2015), eliminating gender inequality and empowering women can raise the productive potential of one billion Africans, thereby boosting the continent’s development potential. Each African country should, therefore, eliminate all forms of gender inequality in order to make the best use of its available people. The informal sector, which mainly comprises self-employed individuals and the workers they may have employed, accommodates many women in Africa, but the activities involved tend to have low incomes with limited opportunities for advancement (ILO, 2021). However, an increasing number of women are employed in the formal sector by banks, insurance firms, and other private and public sector firms; some have advanced to high corporate levels, including occupying top political positions. For instance, Liberia and Tanzania are some of the African countries that have had women presidents. This trend can be partially attributed to higher educational levels attained by some women. As more women get into formal and elected positions, they attempt to change the discriminatory practices that have prevailed over the years. Despite all these attempts, women are still disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts. Many women fail to reach their full economic and self-empowerment potential due in part to gender-based injustices (ILO, 2021). The World Bank Group (2020a) reports an increase in the number of girls who drop out of school and provides evidence to support the argument that African women experience higher unemployment rates, persistent wage gaps, and longer school-to-work transition periods. Some of the factors that prevent women from accessing decent jobs include lack of access to financial resources, early marriages and pregnancies, discriminatory recruitment

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practices, and gender-based stereotypes, which have to be changed if women are to make a meaningful contribution to the development of African economies (Newman et al., 2011).

Women-specific Challenges Due to Covid-19 in Africa One of the greatest challenges of all pandemics is that they lead to massive loss of human life. According to the WHO (2021) estimates, about 1.8 million people died from Covid-19 related complications in 2020. This causes pain and suffering to all those affected by the loss of dear ones, irrespective of whether the people lost were relatives or acquaintances. Many countries in Africa were not adequately prepared to handle the pandemic, and this partially explains the limitations that were experienced in relation to the availability of protective gear, critical care wards, and vaccines (Singh, 2020). However, this was not unique to Africa as it was experienced in other continents like Asia. As an illustration, although India is renowned for its health care system, it found itself overwhelmed by the magnitude of the pandemic. On 24th April 2021, it lost 2,797 people to the pandemic (The Hindu, 2021). Aside from the loss of human life, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a loss of employment or income opportunities. For example, ILO (2021) estimates that about 195 million jobs were eliminated globally due to the pandemic, with a majority in sectors dominated by women. Further, the pandemic has created conditions that make women more vulnerable, particularly those who work in the informal sector as low-wage earners and those who have limited protection against exploitation and harassment at work. In sub-Saharan Africa, the informal sector accounts for 89% of all employment, and it is dominated by women (Bonnet et al., 2019). The pandemic forced numerous non-essential businesses to either shut down or severely limit their operations (Ozili & Arun, 2020). Some of the essential businesses also experienced productivity declines due to frequent closures and giving employees time to stay at home in order to avoid the possible spread of the virus (Ochieng, 2020). The informal sector experienced significant declines in demand arising from reduced operating hours as a result of the curfews. Migrant women working in non-essential sectors like hospitality and domestic labour were more affected by lay-offs or exploitation during the period of the pandemic.

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The gender gap in labour also widened as more women lost their jobs compared to the number of men who lost their jobs (ILO, 2021). The UN Women (2020) argues that crises tend to affect women and girls more adversely than they affect men and boys, especially economically. The same report indicates that women generally earn and save less than men, these same women are the majority of single parents, disproportionately hold more insecure jobs in the informal and formal service sectors and have less access to social protection. A similar view is expressed by the World Bank Group (2020b). These conditions decrease their ability to absorb economic shocks compared to men. Prolonged school closures and social distancing measures increased the burden of unpaid care and domestic work for women, especially those who were forced to stay at home, thereby reducing their ability to engage in formal jobs, particularly when jobs could not be done remotely (World Bank Group, 2020b). The pandemic has added to the existing structural injustices by deepening the social, economic, and humanitarian conditions that women in Africa are exposed to. The situation is worse for women operating in conflict situations and those displaced by conflicts as well as those working in the health sector. According to the World Bank Group (2020b), the health sector has a relatively larger number of women compared to men. The African Union (2021) reports an increase in the number of domestic violence and gender discrimination cases reported during the period of the pandemic. The same report forecasts reduced access to sexual and reproductive health services as the pandemic becomes more rampant since more resources are directed at fighting it. ILO (2021) rates four sectors as being highly vulnerable to severe job losses and reduced working hours, namely (a) accommodation and food services, (b) real estate, business, and administrative activities, (c) manufacturing, and (d) wholesale/retail. The same report indicates that in 2020, about 527 million women, representing 41% of total female employment, were employed in these sectors compared to 35% of total male employment. This confirms the fact that women’s employment was affected more severely compared to that of men. The highest share of women employed in high-risk sectors is found in the high-income and upper middle-income countries, with almost 50 and 40% of women, respectively, concentrated in such sectors (ILO, 2021). According to UN Women (2020), economic and social stresses combined with movement restrictions and stringent stay-at-home measures enforced through lockdowns and curfews partially explain the

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surge in gender-based violence. This violence is also compounded by the shortage of money, health and security anxieties, movement restrictions, crowded homes, and reduced peer support. Some cases of domestic violence are often not reported due to movement restrictions. Social distancing measures and overburdened health systems strain women’s ability to provide and care for the sick and elderly members of their families. Even before the onset of the pandemic, many African countries had poor and overstrained health systems, shortage of health workers, and low expenditures on their health sectors (O’Hare, 2015; WHO, 2020b). Poor women living in informal settlements are especially more vulnerable especially when affected by movement restrictions. Besides, as women spend more time online due to movement restrictions, there is an increase in online forms of violence in chat rooms and gaming platforms, among other platforms (UN Women, 2020). Women providing essential services, such as doctors and nurses, and those in the informal sector face additional risks of violence in the process of moving from one place to another. The pandemic’s economic impacts are likely to increase sexual exploitation and early marriages, leaving women and girls in fragile economies and refugees particularly vulnerable. In order to mitigate against these challenges, several projects have been initiated, one of which is the Refugee Employment and Skills Initiative (RESI) project delivered to refugees at the Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement in Kenya (International Trade Centre, 2021). The project is designed to enable refugees to develop digital marketing skills and gain jobs as online freelancers. This training has helped women entrepreneurs to market their goods far and wide.

Effects of Covid-19 on Sustainable Development in Africa Sustainable development aims to meet contemporary needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Schaefer & Crane, 2005). Abubakar (2017) argues that sustainable development is a core concept within the global development policy and agenda. It provides a mechanism through which the society can interact with the environment without damaging the resources needed by future generations. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a massive global economic downturn in many countries all over the world (Ozili, 2020). In the second quarter of 2020, the pandemic led to the loss of

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about 14% of working hours, translating into the equivalent of about 400 million full-time jobs (ILO, 2021). This forced governments all over the world to intervene in order to save many businesses from collapsing. In the case of Kenya, the interventions took the form of tax reductions, stimulus packages for struggling businesses, and social programmes like giving stipends to the elderly and those affected by the loss of income (Kaberia & Muathe, 2021). Some people who lost their jobs began to engage in all manner of entrepreneurial activities, including using their cars to sell fruits, vegetables, and other goods. The Kenyan government interventions were insufficient since they did not cater for the needs of all those affected, and they were punitive to numerous people, especially those working in the informal sector who had little or no savings to rely on. The interventions also came at the expense of increased debt to countries like China and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as some of the money used to implement them was borrowed (IMF, 2021). The major socioeconomic impacts of Covid-19 on African women entrepreneurs are still unclear, and the literature evaluating them is still limited (Ozili, 2020). Some studies have focused on specific sectors such as health care (Ather et al., 2020), tourism (Gössling et al., 2020), mining (Laing, 2020), and the economy (Ozili, 2020). The pandemic is expected to increase the levels of global poverty (Sumner et al., 2020), given that a number of industries have been adversely affected by the pandemic and its spillover effects (Ozili & Arun, 2020). For instance, the global demand for air travel, including travel in and out of Africa, dropped significantly due to the travel restrictions imposed by many countries. Kenya Airways, as one among many similar airlines in Africa, made a loss of $330 million for the fiscal year of 2020 (Alushula, 2021). Many conferences, sports events, workshops, and symposiums were cancelled particularly during the early days of the pandemic to avoid the possible spread of the virus, and this affected, inter alia, travel companies, hotels, and tourist destinations (Gössling et al., 2020). Speaking at the African Economic Conference (AEC), Yohannes Hailu, from the Private Sector Development and Finance Division at UNECA, emphasised the social and economic challenges being experienced in Africa and advised African economies to build resilient economies using the lessons learnt from the pandemic (Economic Commission for Africa, 2020).

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ICT for Sustainable Development and Women Empowerment Women in Africa are participating in the ICT revolution in a variety of ways. Gadgets such as smartphones have made this even easier. The prospects of ICT in enhancing economic development and promoting women’s empowerment seem promising (Buskens & Webb, 2009). Scholars like Sharma (2003) and Stephen (2006) suggest that ICT can empower women through enabling participation in economic and social development activities and facilitating informed decision-making. These authors argue that ICT has the power to reach women who have not been reached by other media, and it can facilitate communication among them and other dispersed networks, enabling them to mobilise, participate in debates, and express themselves. Technology in its various forms, including ICT, continues to redefine and revolutionise the way people live and work. For instance, ICT enables people to communicate in real time irrespective of the distances involved. This reduces the need to travel in order to physically meet with, say, relatives or workmates, or even to shop. SDG 5 on gender equality and the empowerment of women includes a specific focus on utilising technology and ICT to realise women’s empowerment (Sachs, 2012). ICT enables women to exploit opportunities even when they operate in informal and exploitative settings. Some women in Africa, just like majority of women worldwide, use social media apps like WhatsApp and Facebook for marketing their goods all over the world. The aim of SDG 1, as advocated for by the United Nations (UN), is to eradicate poverty by 2030 (Klapper et al., 2016). This can be achieved by ensuring that both men and women have equal rights to economic resources and property ownership. The Covid-19 pandemic makes matters worse for Africa, which already bears a disproportionate burden of poverty and disease (Castaneda et al., 2019). Many traditional societies in Africa perceive men to be the breadwinners and women as the homemakers. While this reasoning is gradually changing, numerous women in Africa engage in informal activities that supplement their families’ incomes. Moreover, taking care of families takes a lot of time and effort, yet they are not paid for, meaning that lots of families still depend on men as the sole breadwinners. Since women in Africa have been marginalised in many ways, ICT can be used to boost economic development, generate job opportunities, enhance productivity, and reduce poverty for women (Palvia et al., 2017). The effective use of ICT

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empowers both men and women in numerous ways; it is considered to be a great equaliser that redefines the traditional gender roles since it is not gender-sensitive. Tijjani et al. (2017) argue that ICT empowers women by enabling them to exploit business opportunities, break genderbased stereotypes and discrimination, access education, and speak out against social evils like SGBV; it also reduces poverty and increases income opportunities. When governments in Africa directed all educational institutions to stop face-to-face contacts as part of the lockdown measures, some of the institutions like colleges and universities continued to interact with their students online through their websites and other communication tools. Such interactions enabled students to continue learning in the course of the pandemic. This was the case for nearly all the universities in Kenya. ICT also facilitates women’s empowerment by creating avenues for raising awareness on empowerment, encouraging literacy and gaining education, connecting buyers with sellers, and creating platforms for dialogue and networking, which can result in more income opportunities. To address the pandemic and stabilise economies, countries around the world are increasingly turning to ICT. Galaz (2009) notes that ICT can be used to fight pandemics by providing early warnings of the pandemics, creating networks for global health governance, providing communication support at affordable costs, and establishing networks among social organisations. For instance, the WHO has an Early Warning Alert and Response Network (EWARN) for disease outbreaks, although it was unsuccessful at predicting the scale of the Covid-19 pandemic (WHO, n.d.). In this regard, governments in Africa can use mobile phones to share disease prevention tips (e.g. keeping social distance) while development and humanitarian organisations can use digital tools to monitor the progress of their activities remotely particularly when they cannot physically interact with their stakeholders. ICT also facilitates concerted efforts by the respective governments of each African country and the relevant stakeholders in tackling the pandemic. Besides, many countries in Africa have adopted the use of cashless transactions, especially using mobile phones. In Kenya, one can use his or her mobile phone to pay for a wide range of goods and services. The use of mobile phone transactions reduces the physical handling of money, a contact point that can lead to transmission of the disease. Banga (2020) alludes to the fact that Kenya has a well-developed ICT sector which can be tapped to mitigate against the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Other African countries like Uganda and Tanzania have also adopted the cashless payment system, as

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illustrated in the cases presented hereunder. Based on testimonies in an evaluation of a project by the Council for the Economic Empowerment of Women of Africa (CEEWA) in Uganda, the project enabled training and information which relatively improved women’s standard of living as well as their businesses (Litho, 2010). A testimony from one of the beneficiaries is cited as follows: After my husband died, I was hopeless, but CEEWA taught me how to invest and the use of computers and the telephone. I now keep broilers and also sell tap water. From my saving, I can pay fees for my three children, and I have also bought a mobile phone (one woman indicated). (Litho, 2010)

Similarly, UNCTAD (2013) notes that the possibility to send and receive money by mobile phones has had a tremendously positive effect on women entrepreneurs as it offers them an avenue to save money and transact conveniently. A verbatim comment by one of the women is captured as follows: Other than to go from here to Mwanza with a lot of money in your pocket, you just go with our phone. Even if your phone is stolen, your money is in your account,” said women entrepreneur Eliahaika Mrema of Dar es Salaam. “Our banks are nice,” she added. “but, there’s a log of queue. To go to the bank to get the services, it is like half day or the whole day. Then you are doing nothing.

When women have access to the internet, they have the opportunity to start new businesses, sell products to new markets, find better-paid jobs, and access education as well as health and financial services. In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, this takes on renewed importance, especially when we consider the negative effects of not accessing the internet, including the inability to access vital health information, education, and employment opportunities. This makes ICT a powerful tool for empowering women. A study carried out in Mozambique on women’s use of ICT by Macueve et al. (2009) found that mobile phones were stimulating some women to learn how to recognise and dial numbers, which was a step towards learning how to read and write. ICT was also helping poor women to increase their incomes in ways that included cost-effective communications that helped their trading and increased opportunities

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to establish small businesses. Thus, through mobile phones, women are enhancing their capacity to provide assets that help them resolve their daily concerns in a socio-economic manner that increases their autonomy. Further, mobile phones are reshaping the economic lives of the poor. For instance, Aker and Mbiti (2010) indicate that mobile phones increase the spread of information and improve the functioning of markets, while Suri and Jack (2016) opine that value-added services through technology have proven to reduce poverty and improve educational, financial, and health outcomes. During the pandemic, ICT has been used and will continue to be used as a key intervention strategy for exposing and dealing with gender-based violence. The East African countries experienced a 48% increase in the number of cases of SGBV reported either through toll-free lines or to the police since the onset of the pandemic (East African Community, n.d.). Cases which occur can be exposed easily through Twitter accounts with a hashtag of the case, or through videos, publications, and podcasts, among other approaches, providing evidence for the relevant authorities to follow up and take the necessary actions. This exposure ensures that violating the rights of women during the pandemic is minimised. Further, women who are the major players in the agricultural sector are using technological innovations like WhatsApp and Facebook to access information on how to increase their crop yields and market their products. These apps, together with mobile phone calls and short message services (SMS), have been used by agricultural extension officers in Kenya during the period of the pandemic. While the use of ICTs has had many positive aspects, it has many downturns. For instance, it has led to an information crisis that has seen the propagation of unreliable information or even the promotion of radicalised viewpoints that do more harm than good. In times of crisis, many ideas are propagated, but some are not scientifically proven and may be unhealthy. Besides, some people use ICT to resist government initiatives like vaccination, citing unconfirmed reports of their negative side effects. In Kenya, the AstraZeneca vaccine was initially resisted, with some people criticising its side effects. The ICT revolution has brought new types of gender-based violence, including online discrimination, cyberbullying, cyberstalking, blackmail, and hate speech. For example, having been exposed to these challenges, and noting that an increased number of people are connected by technology, a Kenyan student named Kathy Gitau and her friends started support groups to assist those affected by

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online abuse (UN Women, 2021). Adequate regulatory frameworks are needed to address these concerns. Besides, women’s use of ICT may be limited by inadequate training, lack of access, and high costs of acquiring the related equipment and getting the necessary connections (Munyua, 2020). These problems are more amplified for women in rural areas, particularly those whose levels of education are low as they may be unaware of the benefits of ICT. Further challenges arise from illiteracy, unequal access to educational opportunities, and cultural restrictions on women’s mobility and ownership of property. The combination of all these factors, among others, marginalises women from the information sector.

ICT---Post-Covid-19 Strategy for Sustainable Development and Women Empowerment Cilliers et al. (2020) formulate three scenarios regarding the future impacts of Covid-19. The scenarios indicate that Africa’s development trajectory has suffered a severe setback, and Africa’s economy is expected to be between US$349 billion and US$643 billion smaller in 2030 than it was expected to be before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The best case is where the GDP per capita will recover to 2019 levels in 2024, while the worst case is where the restoration of GDP to 2019 levels will only occur in 2030. Overall, the pandemic will hinder Africa’s progress towards attaining the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by reducing government revenues, increasing health expenditures, and undermining debt sustainability in many African countries, particularly those in the sub-Saharan part. In the worst case, more people will have died from the impact of reduced health expenditure and hunger by 2030 than those who will have died from the pandemic. Despite this bleak outlook, Covid-19 also presents opportunities for the African continent to bolster institutions, leverage regional and continent-wide capacity and support, and capitalise on the geo-political shifts to foster increased intra-African cooperation. The African Union (2021), for example, has taken steps to establish an online market that enables the supply of Covid-19-related critical medical equipment in Africa. Further, African countries can develop solutions suitable to their people, like researching potential medicines that can cure various diseases. Indigenous knowledge on treatment and management of diseases using herbs, roots, leaves, and other parts of plants can also be harnessed to this

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effect, considering that different types of medicines have always existed in the continent since time immemorial. Another area where opportunities arise is business. Responding to people affected by Covid-19 requires businesses to act faster and adjust operational practices accordingly. This provides an enormous opportunity to transition from the old ways of doing business to the new practices and models, including adopting the circular economy, shared values, inclusive businesses, and stakeholder capitalism (Schröder et al., 2020). There is, therefore, increased room to tap into the opportunities provided by the current pandemic, and ICT can be used not only to address the pandemic but also to keep economies running. That way, African countries will be able to rebuild their economies. According to (2020), the Covid19 pandemic has changed consumer shopping behaviour to more online shopping compared to physical shopping. As a result of the pandemic, the internet is being used not only to shop but also as a source of information and digital entertainment. The (2020) report further argues that consumers in emerging economies have made the greatest shift to online shopping. Online selling and shopping, as well as virtual meetings, will have to be prioritised, and businesses will have to digitise their customer and supply-chain interactions as well as their internal operations if the gains of ICT are to be realised, and if the effects of the pandemic are to be overcome. Developments in ICT during and after the pandemic will continue to provide opportunities for women to share experiences (good and bad) and build social and economic support systems for each other. Further, as more organisations continue to operate remotely, ICT will continue to provide women with increasing income opportunities by working remotely as they continue to perform their domestic roles. For example, the World Vision’s Women and Web Project in Kenya helped many women to learn how to search the internet and expand their businesses (World Vision, 2020). This empowered them to exploit the opportunities availed by the internet. Moreover, the pandemic has given women a chance to practise craft activities like making beads, crocheting, and baking, among others—all these are viable business opportunities that can be exploited (Omodara et al., 2020). Moving forward, more women will engage in these activities commercially through e-commerce platforms. In addition, as more institutions embark on digital learning platforms, this will give women a chance to access education and equip themselves with the necessary skills for formal employment, leading to increased women’s participation in formal employment, especially in technology-oriented organisations.

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Conclusion It is too early to predict the exact direction that the Covid-19 pandemic will take in relation to the activities of women entrepreneurs in Africa. However, this chapter examined the role that ICT plays in mitigating the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. African women have been shown to have numerous challenges, and the pandemic has not made their state any better. Women in Africa can utilise ICT to overcome traditional stereotypes and limitations, and advance themselves socially, economically, and politically. It is also a powerful tool for exposing ill treatments done to women such as sexual and gender-based violence, and for promoting positive aspects in the lives of women, like the business and educational opportunities it avails. Based on the literature reviewed, the authors conclude that with time the pandemic will be overcome, but the use of ICT will continue long after the pandemic and all women should adopt it for their long-term benefit. The chapter has contributed to the literature on entrepreneurship and marketing by emphasising the use of ICT to enhance the performance of women-owned businesses. The information contained in the chapter can be used to formulate ICT-related policies that relate to women-owned enterprises.

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CHAPTER 16

Women Economic Empowerment and Post-pandemic Recovery in Africa: Normalising the “Un-Normal” Outcome of Covid-19 Ogechi Adeola, Paul Agu Igwe, and Olaniyi Evans

Introduction Empowering women is indispensable to health and social development (Bayeh, 2016; Rai et al., 2019). When women are living productive lives, they can achieve their full potential (Ekesionye & Okolo, 2012; Uduji & Okolo-Obasi, 2018). At its 2016 summit in Ethiopia, the African Union

O. Adeola (B) Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected] P. A. Igwe University of Lincoln, Brayford, UK O. Evans Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria

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under the theme “2016: African Year of Human Rights”, with a particular focus on women’s rights, considered the empowerment of women as an important facet of fast-tracking the development process in African countries. According to Boateng (2018), female entrepreneurship has positive impacts on poverty alleviation and socio-economic development. Women constitute the majority of the world’s poor, yet they make up the largest percentage of entrepreneurs, dominating the informal sector in Africa (Igwe et al., 2018). Accordingly, the consolidation of their capacity for economic contribution is now identified as a factor for growth in Africa. Gender inequality is a global problem, but in Africa, the reality is more acute (Bassey & Bubu, 2019). African women entrepreneurs have several obstacles inhibiting their full autonomy (Kapinga & Montero, 2017), which enables business success. As confirmed in various studies (e.g., Kapinga & Montero, 2017; Karakire, 2015; Richardson et al., 2004), a set of important strategic choices largely explains the gender gap and shapes female entrepreneurs’ choices. Campos and Gassier (2017) reflected that the gender differences in business outcomes are explained by the gender-specific constraints that influence the economic choices men and women make. The constraints considered in their study were contextual factors, gender differences in preferences (differences in what male and female wants), and gender gaps in endowments (social and economic resources), all of which limit the range of choices women can make as they develop their businesses. Hence, the key to building womenled businesses that will spur employment is to tackle the constraints that lead to gaps in performance. On 11th March, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic caused by the Coronavirus disease, soon referred to as Covid-19, a novel virus quickly spreading from Wuhan, China, to other cities and countries, leaving thousands of confirmed deaths in its path (Fauci et al., 2020). To curb the spread, many African governments, like other global leaders, enacted restrictions and lockdowns that adversely and significantly affected livelihoods and enterprises. The effects are not gender-neutral as it affected men and women differently. Globally, women are invariably more vulnerable to economic shocks wrought by crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic (Durant, 2020). The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2020 Report identified two areas of concern:

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Firstly the over-representation of women in the jobs and sectors that have been hit the hardest (such as tourism, travel & transport, retail, food services, accommodation, entertainment & recreation, and manufacturing); secondly, the pre-existing gender disparity in business (spanning inferior digital skills, financial marginalization, lack of access to education and disproportionate domestic duties, to name only some of the most salient factors). Those in developed economies have been shielded in part from the more drastic impacts due to higher knowledge assets such as tertiary qualifications, advanced skillsets such as business leadership and who are employed in the formal sector as professional or technical workers. While women in developing economies have been harder hit due to onaverage lesser knowledge assets and an overrepresentation in the informal and harder-hit business sectors. (Mastercard, 2020: 6)

As women are disproportionately more vulnerable due to their exposure in highly impacted sectors, their role will be pivotal to economic recovery. Policymakers cannot afford to be gender-blind in their approach and responses to the pandemic, or women will continue to carry a disproportionately higher economic cost than men. To understand the role and challenges of women-owned businesses towards pandemic recovery in Africa, this chapter delves into women entrepreneurs in Africa, articulating the gender-specific constraints confronting female entrepreneurs and the consequent business outcomes. By reviewing related literature and reflecting on the developments in Africa since the Covid-19 pandemic, this chapter also highlights policy options and interventions capable of reducing the constraints faced by women entrepreneurs. Normalising the “un-normal” outcomes of the Covid-19 pandemic has become a major strategic challenge for many government agencies, organisations, and businesses. Policymakers working to address the critical pandemic-induced economic challenges facing Africa can draw on three subjective themes found in this chapter and in this book. First, the chapter discusses the power of women in African entrepreneurship development. Second, it analyses gender inequality issues in Africa entrepreneurship. Third, the chapter examines the nexus of COVID and women in Africa entrepreneurship. This is followed by discussions, implications, and future research direction.

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Women Empowerment in Africa Towards Entrepreneurship Development Entrepreneurship is a spur for growth and development; it has contributed significantly to positive economic growth in Africa (Adeola et al., 2021; Gyimah & Adeola, 2021; Kansheba, 2020; Pepra & Adekoya, 2020; Sun et al., 2020). Female entrepreneurship has positive impacts on poverty alleviation and socio-economic development (Boateng, 2018). Yet, women constitute the majority of the world’s poor, but they are in the minority as entrepreneurs everywhere except for Africa, where women dominate the informal sector (ibid.). Most women enterprises are informal, family-oriented, employ only the owner or less than five employees, are unregistered, usually unlicensed, and typically do not pay taxes (Igwe et al., 2019). Accordingly, the consolidation of their capacity for economic contribution is now identified as a factor for growth (ibid.). The origins of African female entrepreneurship precede colonisation and take the form of the gendering of work and women’s marginalisation from the “mainstream economy” (ibid.). Post-independence Africa, many reforms have been put in place in various countries to bring women into the mainstream economy. Nevertheless, obstacles hinder their full economic participation (ibid.). In contemporary times, women entrepreneurs are making substantial contributions to economies in Africa, and their count is increasing at a faster pace than men (Kelly et al., 2015; Niethammer, 2013). Women have significant participation and contribution to the African informal economy, including agriculture (animal husbandry and crop production), food processing as well as domestic work, and childcare (Klaa, 2020). More than 70% of women in sub-Saharan Africa are involved in the informal labour force. For example, in Uganda, a quarter of all working-age women (more than two million) are involved in some sort of entrepreneurial activity. Largely, Ugandan women-owned enterprises account for about 30% of the country’s GDP (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2012). Leveraging on the knowledge, many African countries have invested in the promotion of women’s entrepreneurship as a pathway to women’s economic empowerment and poverty reduction. In 2015, for example, the Ugandan government identified the promotion of women’s entrepreneurship as a bolster to gender equality and thereby launched a four-year programme to address the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, including limited access to credit, inadequate

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technical skills for business development, and little information regarding business opportunities. The African Development Bank has also initiated several interventions (as part of the African Women in Business Initiative) across the continent to grow financing instruments and mechanisms for supporting the growth of women’s enterprises. Various donor agencies and development actors such as the International Finance Corporation, the UK Department for International Development, US Agency for International Development, and Canadian International Development Agency are promoting entrepreneurship, especially for women. For example, the UK Department for International Development backs the African Women Entrepreneurs Programme. The Dutch government has also implemented the 2SCALE project in support of small-scale entrepreneurs in eight African countries, especially for female entrepreneurs, to launch and expand new businesses through training and business support services as well as brokering partnerships with financial institutions (Vossenberg, 2016). Considering that opportunities in wage employment are negligible, women in Africa are more likely to be self-employed than to be wage earners (Hallward-Driemeier, 2013). African women-owned businesses are known to significantly underperform compared to those owned by men (Campos & Gassier, 2017). Yet, as in the case of many African countries, such aggregate figures conceal substantial internal diversity across countries, sectors, and firms (UNCTAD, 2013). Hence, crucial to building women-led businesses that can spur employment is the need to address the constraints that feed the gaps in performance. Evidence on female entrepreneurial activity reveals that women-owned businesses tend to have lower performance, are smaller, less profitable, grow more slowly, have higher closure rates, and utilise less external finance (Eliana et al., 2018).

Gender Inequality Issues Affecting Africa Entrepreneurship Women’s motivations and goals are influenced by different stages in their life; career, family, preferences, and values (Eliana et al., 2018). Despite the recognition and the emphasis on women’s entrepreneurship development as a key driver of economic development, women in Africa remain in the informal sector and run survivalist enterprises, often

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not in growth-oriented businesses (Kelly et al., 2015; UNIDO, 2014). The reason is that a gender gap exists in entrepreneurship in terms of motivation, industry choice, and business performance (Campos et al., 2015). However, women are under-represented in corporate ownership and management participation. For example, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda boast high levels of female entrepreneurship, but the data shows that the majority of the activity is driven by a need for survival rather than motives of business expansion (Katongole et al., 2014; Kelly et al., 2015). In terms of participation in the formal workforce, wage gap is a big concern for women. For example, in the informal sector, the gender wage gap is 28% compared to 6% for the formal workforce, in Sub-Saharan Africa (Klaa, 2020). Considered globally, the link between African women and the economy is a paradox. According to Klaa (2020, p. 5), “Women work two-thirds of the working hours and produce more than half of the food but earn only 10 percent of the total income and have less than 2 percent of the land and receive less than 5% bank loans”. According to the United Nations, women’s economic activity in the continent is about 61.9%, which is higher than most other regions of the world, yet the percentage of women working in the non-agricultural sector is one of the lowest: 8.5% (Klaa, 2020). Although women in Africa launch new businesses at a rapid rate, maintaining and growing the business is often such a challenge that they exit the businesses at a much higher rate. The majority of women run micro-enterprises without employees in the informal sector, and in terms of business performance, make less revenue than men (Kelly et al., 2015). Access to finance is a major constraint for women entrepreneurs (Eliana et al., 2018). Women tend to be under-represented in finance, hightech, construction, and manufacturing sectors but are over-represented in small-scale service provision, the consumer sector, and farming. These are sectors that often require little to zero start-up capital or offer cheap goods and services with low value (Said-Allsopp & Tallontire, 2014). For example, in Sub-Saharan Africa, 80% of women-led enterprises operate in the consumer sector, especially in traditional women’s roles such as food and beverages, hairdressing, and retail outlets (Chant & Pedwell, 2008). Quite a few studies have dwelt on gender inequality and entrepreneurial activities of women in Africa. Bardasi et al. (2011) showed that, in Africa, the average sales of women-owned businesses are 13% lower than those of male-owned businesses. Brixiová and Kangoye (2016) showed that the monthly sales and the number of employees for womenowned businesses are less than half of those owned by men in Swaziland. For Ethiopia, Costa and Rijkers (2012) found significant differences in

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size between male and female non-farm rural businesses. Nordman and Vaillant (2014) found that, in Madagascar, the value-added is 28% lower in women-owned businesses. McKenzie and Woodruff (2015) identified a positive relationship between male entrepreneurship and the sales and profits of businesses. Based on the World Bank Enterprise Surveys, Hallward-Driemeier (2013) found that the average value added per worker of women-owned businesses in Africa is 6% lower than that of male-owned businesses, further suggesting that the gap in a value-added per worker is fully explained by size, sector, and capital intensity. The context where women establish their businesses plays a crucial role in determining the investment, the competition, the sophistication, and the sector (Campos & Gassier, 2017). Entrepreneurs perceive that regulations, bureaucracy, and corruption are their most important constraints (Igwe & Icha-Ituma, 2020). Legal and regulatory discrimination may be onerous for female entrepreneurs in Africa. Rigorous measures of the effect of legal reforms endorsing gender equality in business are still lacking. Family law may pose constraints to married women to manage their businesses (Hallward-Driemeier, 2013). For example, in Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire, women do not have equal rights with their husbands over control of marital property by law (Arekapudi & Almodóvar, 2020), thus restricting women’s ability to own and use properties. In addition, limited capital and assets affect women’s ability to make optimum entrepreneurial choices. While gender differences in access to finance appear to be modest, differences in asset ownership significantly limit women’s strategic choices. The Gender, Land, and Assets Surveys carried out in 2007–2012 showed that, in Uganda and South Africa, gender gaps in asset ownership are significant (Kes et al., 2011). Since the entrepreneurs’ ability to get loans is determined by their collateral, laws restricting women’s control over assets further limit women’s choices in terms of finance. Equally important, social norms influence women’s abilities to expand their business. According to Marcus and Harper (2014), women’s decisions are influenced by factors such as education, reproductive health, economic well-being, and civic participation. In addition, social norms that arise from stereotypes can shape women’s awareness of their capacities to pursue business activities considered to be carried out solely by the male gender.

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Education and skills gaps are also a major concern. In Sub-Saharan Africa, self-employed women have lesser years of education than selfemployed men; in Ghana and Kenya, the gap is greater than one year (Hallward-Driemeier, 2013). The major contributory factor is that parents invest more in sons’ education and encourage girls’ early marriage. In Africa, men are trained to be the primary breadwinners and there is usually a high prioritisation of the education of boys in contrast to girls (Abbott & Teti, 2017). Women with limited education generally have low literacy and numeracy, which adversely affect their business activities. Additionally, pandemics and disruptions to learning only exacerbate existing inequalities, leaving girls more vulnerable to abuse and poverty in times of crisis. With the pandemic, women are always saddled with the responsibility of taking care of the younger ones and the elderly, which prevents them from pursuing an education (Alon et al., 2020). To promote the achievement of SDG 4, which is focused on quality education for all, governments in Africa must emphasise the importance of education as a means of narrowing the gender gaps as this will enhance business ownership, acumen, and success towards the achievement of economic growth. Fixing healthcare system would be paramount to getting entrepreneurship right. Africa was caught unprepared for the Covid-19 pandemic. The fragile health security capacities in the context of the Covid-19 outbreak initially hindered the effective management of the pandemic. The Covid19 crisis has indeed revealed lingering underinvestment in African healthcare systems over the last decades in terms of financing, governance, service delivery, infrastructure, personnel, and information technology. Moreover, the Covid-19 crisis is an added burden to already overstretched health systems, struggling to cope with multifarious diseases, including malaria, AIDS, or Ebola, among others (Schewitz et al., 2020). There is, therefore, an existing need for investment in African countries’ healthcare systems. African nations need to prioritise investment in national emergency and economic recovery programmes. On women healthcare, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, DirectorGeneral of The World Health Organization (WHO), stated; when health systems are overwhelmed, countries need to make difficult decisions to balance the demands of responding directly to Covid-19, while simultaneously engaging in strategic planning and coordinated action to maintain essential health service delivery. The provision of many services

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will become more challenging. Women’s choices and rights to sexual and reproductive health care, however, should be respected regardless of Covid19 status” (World Health Organization, 2020).

Accordingly, accelerated efforts and significant investments into the field of public health should be a strategic objective of African nations, which must take into consideration the vulnerability of the female gender during and post-pandemic. As a corollary to addressing healthcare challenges, gender-based violence was exacerbated during Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. According to Sachs et al. (2020), gender-based violence is one of the negative consequences of Covid-19 lockdown. The spread of the Covid19 requires that government demands its citizens to stay at home, a measure that has increased the rate of gender-based violence globally (WHO, 2020). Women in abusive relationships have been at the receiving end of severe violence, putting their health and livelihood at risk. Therefore, governments in Africa and other parts of the world must consider plans and strategies to meet the needs of women affected by domestic and gender-based violence during the lockdown and put in place appropriate policies to mitigate its reoccurrence. Only when appropriate strategies are put in place can women be empowered in entrepreneurship, as gender-based violence is a hindrance to their socio-economic progress.

COVID and Women Entrepreneurship in Africa The Covid-19 spread all over the world, with millions of confirmed cases and thousands of confirmed deaths (Evans, 2020; Fauci et al., 2020). Presenting a range of illnesses from asymptomatic or mild through to severe disease and death, the Covid-19 is perceived as a huge threat to ‘women entrepreneurship’ to woman entrepreneurship, as it jeopardises the attainment of gender equality already achieved so far. The Covid-19 pandemic magnifies the extent of the inequality. For women entrepreneurs, the repercussions of Covid-19 are felt more deeply and more likely to extend further than for their male counterparts (The Africa Report, 2020). As Covid-19 rampages across the world, the pandemics are projected to take a huge human toll on Africa. The immediate economic consequences are also estimated to be deleterious, likely to push more people into extreme poverty. As experienced in previous pandemics such as the

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Ebola epidemic, the Covid-19 may worsen existing gender inequalities in economic opportunities. For example, in Liberia, women experienced worse job losses and remained out of work longer than men, since women worked disproportionately in the hardest-hit sectors. Meanwhile, in Sierra Leone, school closures and curtailed economic opportunities led girls to spend more time with men, increasing their likelihood of becoming pregnant and leaving school. (Copley et al., 2020)

To curb the spread of the Covid-19, many African governments enacted travel restrictions, border closures, and full or partial lockdowns (Ozili, 2020). Although these measures are necessary, the unintended consequence is that they have adversely and significantly affected livelihoods and enterprises, upsetting the survival of SMEs. The lockdown conditions only exacerbated the problem, such as a high share of working poor, high rate of vulnerable workers, lack of basic health care, and high illiteracy (Igwe, 2020). These upsets have predisposed businesses to a significant drop in revenues, liquidity, and human capital. For example, GO5 Packaging Ltd, a Ugandan woman-led manufacturer of shopping bags, has experienced a significant drop in sales because of the closure of shopping centres while still incurring costs vis-à-vis rent and salaries (Ebo & Kerubo, 2020). In a similar vein, women-led businesses across the continent face various obstacles in the form of limited access to finance, social, and legal constraints, labour and skills gaps, as well as exclusion from key networks. Some researchers have explored the impacts of Covid-19 and the lockdown on women-owned businesses in Africa (e.g., Abebe et al., 2020; Dzingirai et al., 2021; Kaberia & Muathe, 2021; Odeku, 2020). This stream of literature has shown that the Covid-19 pandemic has hit women entrepreneurs specifically hard (e.g., Dzingirai et al., 2021; Odeku, 2020). Without preparation or notice, women entrepreneurs have had to re-evolve their business practices due to social distancing measures, tend to their children full-time as schools are closed, and cope with the financial ramifications of the economy on lockdown (Mathew et al., 2020). Women represent 58% of the continent’s entrepreneurs (Copley et al., 2020). However, women-owned businesses are disproportionately informal, in less profitable sectors, and particularly vulnerable to

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shocks such as Covid-19. Women-led businesses are more vulnerable to closure than those men-led during the pandemic due to many factors such as women’s limited access to finance, the increase in household care responsibilities, and shifts in consumer behaviour (Khwela-Mdluli & Beharry-Ramraj, 2020). The pandemic wreaks economic havoc, hitting women the hardest, with women-led SMEs at higher risk of closure as they tend to be smaller and operate in lower profit margins. It has been argued that protecting women-owned firms from the effects of Covid-19 would require provisions of much-needed liquidity in the form of lines of credit and meso-financing to women entrepreneurs, who already have less access to loans than men (Copley et al., 2020). In Ethiopia, for example, the Women Entrepreneurship Development Project loaned $23.3 million to women entrepreneurs in its first year. Three years later, partakers had an average increase of 40% in their profits (Copley et al., 2020). Research has shown that women often lack the same access as men to large diverse social networks needed for business growth and competitiveness (Ebo & Kerubo, 2020). In the current Covid-19 crisis, this constraint could limit awareness of relief packages advantageous to their businesses. African women typically control fewer assets than men, which could affect their ability to enlarge their businesses, access sufficient loans, and weather the storm. In addition, social norms require women to manage the increased household responsibilities of Covid-19. For women entrepreneurs, this may be at the detriment of dealing with the crisis in their businesses as well. The implication is that their resources are further constrained.

Discussions and Implications Normalising the “un-normal” outcome of Covid-19 pandemic will require significant government support, policy transformation, restrategising business processes and operations. In Africa, where women are half the number of entrepreneurs and rule over the informal sector, the consolidation of their capacity for economic contribution can lead to growth. The two key ingredients of interventions for women entrepreneurs are financial services, including microcredit, and business development services. Such interventions could be targeted at survival entrepreneurs, for example, through group lending and group-based collateral arrangements. However, Buvinic et al. (2013) have shown that the provision of

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capital alone can work if delivered in kind (e.g., as inventory) rather than in cash to successful women entrepreneurs. Non-cash contributions can help women to maintain the capital in the business and shun pressure to divert cash to extraneous needs. A couple of studies have shown that more support activities, such as finance, business training, and technical assistance, could be promising (Patel, 2014). To enable women entrepreneurs to expand their enterprises, business training combined with intensive follow-up technical support could be more effective than training alone. Combined training and finance have been shown to produce larger positive effects than stand-alone business training (Gravesteijn, 2012). Public policy will be best positioned to impact the constraints faced by women survivalists—the most excluded and marginalised poorest women (Berner et al., 2012). According to Buvinic et al. (2013), survivalist entrepreneurs need a more intensive bundle of services than less poor women to wriggle out of subsistence production. Therefore, rather than having the majority of interventions targeted at the improvement of finances and business skills, more interventions should be targeted at the barriers confronted by women entrepreneurs in the marketplace, in their communities, or at home. Hence, integrated and targeted interventions rather than stand-alone undertakings are needed to help different types of women entrepreneurs (Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute, 2014). In addition, the effect of Covid-19 and its consequent lockdowns are not gender-neutral, as women are more vulnerable to economic shocks wrought by crises. To better serve women entrepreneurs, governments, financiers, and other stakeholders need to apply a gendered approach to the design of Covid-19 responses. This could include encouraging women-focused organisations to push awareness about programmes for which female entrepreneurs would need. Onoshakpor et al. (2020) advocate that strengthening social and business networks and relationships with stakeholders in addition to investment in information technology can provide women entrepreneurs with numerous advantages, including information access, funding opportunities, social and financial support, and knowledge sharing. It would be useful to minimise the hurdles faced by these businesses in accessing finance. It could be, for example, in the form of the reduction or complete elimination of rules around collateral requirements. In addition, the design of specific financial instruments (e.g., moveable property

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lending) to better meet the needs of women entrepreneurs is important. Importantly, to better assess the impact and ascertain new potential insights for women-led businesses, it may become imperative to actively collect and track gender-disaggregated data across key indicators. Agriculture represents a vocation in Africa. Meanwhile, women are roughly 40% of farmers across the African continent yet experience lower farm yields than men (Copley et al., 2020). These inequalities could be worsened by the pandemic. Suggested solutions include the provision of productive inputs to women farmers and thereby improve their economic outcomes. Cash transfer programmes can serve as veritable means of helping households mitigate consumption shocks in times of crisis such as pandemics, when delivered on a timely basis. For example, women in Nigeria who received cash transfers became more food-secure, employed, and invested more in assets (Copley et al., 2020). The implication is that cash transfers, which can be delivered at little cost, can provide positive economic outcomes for women. Cash transfers can hence serve as a means of economic recovery, as women who received them are likely to be more engaged in economic activities. Cash transfers, in addition, have low person-to-person interactions, which is the more reason it can curb the spread of the virus. To support economic recovery, business competitions and soft skills training could go a long way in helping women entrepreneurs bounce back from the recessionary effects of the Covid-19. Business plan competitions have proved invaluable in tackling capital constraints and boosting investment in different contexts; these could be replicated during the post-COVID crisis recovery. Personal initiative training also helps women entrepreneurs to take the initiative and demonstrate courage; it may hence aid recovery from the crisis. In Togo, for example, this sort of training led to a 40% increase in profits for women entrepreneurs compared to participants of conventional business training. Support interventions could include technical assistance facilities in a bid to provide women-led businesses with advisory services. These efforts would help them make informed decisions (perhaps adjust their business models), thus enabling them to survive the pandemic as well as lay the foundation for their post-crisis business growth. Other business support needs could include cost optimisation, scenario planning, liquidity management, and legal advice.

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Internally, women-led businesses themselves can take important steps to navigate the Covid-19 period. If applicable, they could reconfigure their business models to become more resilient to changes in customer demand and disruptions in the supply chain and thereby reposition themselves to grab the opportunities provided by the pandemic. Whether by manufacturing protective equipment, providing logistics to food-delivery companies, or leveraging technology to launch product offerings online, they could re-purpose their assets to offer essential products or services. Importantly, the advancement of women in business would require possessing a positive cultural mindset and regard for risk-taking and innovativeness, as these are critical motivators for pursuing new business opportunities (Mastercard Report, 2020). Technology, especially Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), continues to revolutionise our ways of doing business. Harnessing ICT to advance women’s empowerment is not only vital for gender equality, but critical to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Covid-19 pandemic has limited women from attending face-to-face empowerment programmes, a situation that threatens the attainment of SDG 5 (gender equality and empowerment). Based on the efficacies of ICT in empowerment-driven programmes, it is essential to leverage technology for women empowerment in African countries. For example, as digital penetration grows, technology is being increasingly used as an enabler to deliver maternal health in the continent (e.g., Zero Mothers Die in Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia; MomConnect in South Africa; PROMPTS in Kenya). Digital technology, especially internet access, is spreading throughout Africa and can serve as the lever that opens doors for women, helping them to overcome current challenges on a number of measures of gender equality. Women’s literacy in digital technology needs to improve to foster their prospects and encourage them to participate in today’s digital global economy (Adeola, 2020). Financial literacy is essential to women empowerment and independence; it is essential to foster women’s use of financial services. When women are digitally literate, they can access health services, educational resources, and other information through the internet, and even use technology to advance their enterprises. It has become imperative that nations strive to increase the participation and parity of women in business, hence narrowing the gender gap, as this would be pivotal to an equitable and sustained economic recovery and societal and cultural advancement (Mastercard Report, 2020). SDG 17

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advocates for global partnership to achieve sustainable development goals; hence solidarity and partnerships among Africa nations must be encouraged. Overcoming the effects of Covid-19 will require African countries to avoid the present danger of turning their attention inwards, bearing in mind that they share similar socio-economic challenges. The Covid-19 crisis requires a collective response; enhanced solidarity, in the form of greater economic and political commitment across all African countries towards ensuring that no African country is left behind as they strive to recover from the effects of the pandemic. Therefore, partnerships become more important now than ever before to propel the push for funding and enhance the Covid-19 response from African national governments. Partnership must include organisations, institutions, and individuals, and various funders addressing the Covid-19 pandemic. A starting point can be to leverage on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, brokered by the African Union (AU) and signed on 21 March, 2018, by 44 of its 55 member states in Kigali, Rwanda (The Economist, 2018). With its take-off in 2021, it is time to focus on its fifth objective: “achieve sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development, gender equality and structural transformations within member states”. A necessary step is to ensure that collaboration among member states extends to cooperation in mitigating the negative impact of the pandemic on women. With collaboration and partnership, African countries can share best practices that address socio-economic issues stemming from inadequate basic services and infrastructure on the continent. Finally, all countries stand to benefit from greater equality for women. We, therefore, encourage African countries to adopt the Women’s Empowerment Principles (Table 16.1). The principles are the outcome of collaboration between the UN Global Compact and UN Women and are adapted from the Calvert Women’s Principles. African countries can use Women’s Empowerment Principles to empower women in the workplace, marketplace, and community. In doing so, it is important to take action across all the seven principles.

Future Research Directions It is important to note that a prerequisite to effective policy design is a more expanded understanding of the interventions to tackle genderspecific barriers to women entrepreneurship in Africa. Further research will be needed to identify the interventions to tackle the constraints

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Table 16.1 Women’s Empowerment Principles • Principle 1: Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality • Principle 2: Treat all women and men fairly at work—respect and support human rights and nondiscrimination • Principle 3: Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers • Principle 4: Promote education, training and professional development for women • Principle 5: Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women • Principle 6: Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy • Principle 7: Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality Source Coquatrix (2021)

affecting the development of women-owned businesses. This task can best be pursued using a wide array of methodologies, including experimental and observational research, as well as qualitative studies. Against this backdrop, two interesting questions for future research emerge here: How can policies help to improve women’s entrepreneurship dynamic capabilities and agile business practices post-Covid-19? How can women-owned firms develop dynamic capabilities and agile practices to become growthoriented ventures? Future studies can assess the impact of Covid-19 on women’s entrepreneurial activities across national, regional, or sectoral levels. The literature (e.g., Ali & Salisu, 2019; Ogidi, 2014; Sajuyigbe & Fadeyibi, 2017) suggests that women entrepreneurs are key contributors to growth in productivity and can unlock the potentials of African economies. It is important that researchers continue to explore strategies adopted by this gender category of entrepreneurs to understand the essential successful business approaches utilised by these women for the survival of their businesses in the pandemic. Therefore, there is a need to explore strategies for the facilitation of the recovery of women-owned SMEs after the pandemic. This chapter proposes a richer multi-disciplinary approach to finding workable solutions for women entrepreneurs to recover and grow beyond the pandemic. Intersectional gender analyses are therefore necessary; these analyses would focus on social norms and power relations, as well as broader societal structures. This is crucial to foresee the key areas of concern and risks to be addressed in the recovery of women-owned SMEs. The onus is thus on researchers to conduct Africa-specific gender analyses to pinpoint

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the gender inequalities that fuel different vulnerabilities encountered by women entrepreneurs and how these overlap with other inequalities encountered during a crisis (e.g., Covid-19). Gender analyses should examine both existing and proposed policy solutions targeted at the recovery of women-owned SMEs. Primary research is required to assess women entrepreneur’s responses to Covid19. Another area of research is to examine the challenges and impediments faced by women entrepreneurs in the next normal. Future studies could focus on how women’s enterprise can move beyond “recovering” from the Covid-19 pandemic and towards “thriving” in the long term. Finally, given the social dimension of Covid-19 pandemic, it is important to analyse the effect of the pandemic on women’s entrepreneurial wellbeing and outcomes. A necessary step is to take advantage of the interest and momentum generated by discussions on pandemic recovery to put in place policies that will address gender inequality; this way, the continent may turn a global threat into an opportunity, with steps towards the attainment of the UN Agenda 2030, particularly SDG 5, premised on gender equality. This would require member nations to design adaptive interventions acceptable to both genders, conduct gender analyses to identify specific vulnerabilities, and advocate for legislative, social, and economic changes that will ensure gender equality. Then, in less than ten years to 2030, Africa may be ready to achieve the goal of gender equality and women empowerment, particularly leveraging entrepreneurship.

References Abebe, G., Alibhai, S., Buehren, N., Ebrahim, M., & Hailemicheal, A. (2020). The impacts of COVID-19 on women-owned enterprises in Ethiopia. World Bank Group. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/448681600 839840246/pdf/The-Impacts-of-COVID-19-on-Women-Owned-Enterp rises-in-Ethiopia-Findings-from-a-High-Frequency-Phone-Survey.pdf Abbott, P., & Teti, A. (2017). A Generation in Waiting for Jobs and Justice: Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training in North Africa. Arab Transformations Working Paper, 18. Adeola. O. (2020). The digital gender divide and women’s empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Achieving the UN’s 2030 sustainable development goals. In O. Adeola (Ed.), Empowering African women for sustainable development. Palgrave Macmillan.

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Index

A Advocacy Brief, 2 Africa, 3, 6–10, 13, 18, 23–25, 28, 41, 42, 46, 49, 56, 58, 60, 67, 74, 77, 85, 94, 101, 105, 112, 121, 122, 125, 157–160, 163, 166, 168, 170, 174, 175, 182, 183, 214, 220, 227, 230, 238, 239, 246, 247, 257, 261, 287, 288, 290–292, 306, 307, 313 Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), 259 African literature, 111 African Union (AU), 226, 227, 259, 289, 296, 305, 319 African women, tourism and leadership, 259 Africa We Want, 57 Antenatal care, 79, 81, 84, 85 Asian and Hong Kong influenza, 19 AstraZeneca vaccine, 295 B Blockchain, 238, 239, 241, 243–249

C Cash-based interventions, 244, 248 Climate-related disaster, 57 Community Education and Training (CET) colleges, 101 Containment strategies, 136, 148 Corona Virus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, 2, 8, 11, 12, 18–20, 22–26, 28, 31–33, 46, 55–57, 59, 62, 64, 65, 67, 73, 74, 77–85, 94–96, 98, 99, 101–105, 111, 120, 131, 133, 143, 144, 158, 159, 162, 164, 165, 169, 183, 186, 187, 189, 196, 197, 199, 205, 207, 208, 215, 217, 219, 284, 285, 287, 288, 290, 292–294, 296–298, 306 Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), 1, 18, 31, 39 Coronavirus crisis, 132, 133, 135, 139–144, 147, 148 Council for the Economic Empowerment of Women of Africa (CEEWA), 294

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 O. Adeola (ed.), Gendered Perspectives on Covid-19 Recovery in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88152-8

329

330

INDEX

Covid-19 control measures, 196, 202 Covid-19 in Africa, 41–44, 57, 199 Covid-19 infection, 119, 121, 122, 158, 266, 276 Covid-19 patients, 7, 112, 118, 121 Covid-19 treatment, 120 COVID and women entrepreneurship in Africa, 313–315 Crisis management framework, 134–140, 147, 150 Cryptocurrency, 238 Cultural factors, 94 Cultural inhibitors, 198 Curfews, 40, 42, 46, 200, 284, 288, 289 D Daily income-based market, 196, 197 Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), 7, 11, 25, 124, 158, 165, 229 Developing countries, 10, 18, 23, 33, 77, 82–84, 95–97, 134, 198, 213, 214, 218, 222, 229 Digital currency bitcoin, 238 Digital platforms, 94, 168 E Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), 41 Economic recovery measures, 182, 185–187 Economic stimulus, 43, 185–187 Education (goal 4), 25, 229 Education systems globally, 103 Emergency Response Action Plan (ERAP), 60 Empowering women, 207, 287, 294, 305 Empowering women and girls, 13, 246

Entrepreneurial activities of women, 310 Eradicate poverty, 214, 225, 292 Ethics Review Committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana, 114 External support measures, 187–188 F Family obligations, 158, 198 Family planning programmes, 80 Female-dominated, 158 Female entrepreneurship, 306, 308, 310 Financial inclusion for women in the informal economy, 215, 216, 218, 221, 224, 226, 227, 230 Financial technology (fintech), 11, 225, 229, 238, 239, 242, 247, 248 Fintech and blockchain solutions, 246 Fintech for women, 240, 241 Fintech innovations, 238, 240, 243 Formal learning, 94 Fundamental human right, 95 G Gender-based issues, 63 Gender-Based Violence (GBV), 10, 56–62, 64–67, 99, 102, 104, 189, 203, 204, 260, 290, 295, 313 Gender-based vulnerabilities, 158 Gender disparity, 11, 95, 102, 222, 307 Gender divide, 198 Gendered policy, 62 Gender education gaps, 198 Gender empowerment, 196 Gender equality, 3, 11, 12, 24, 25, 62, 65, 158, 162, 165, 174, 175,

INDEX

182, 184, 189, 190, 195, 199, 201, 204, 214, 215, 218, 227–229, 237, 238, 256, 257, 286, 308, 311, 313, 318, 319, 321 Gender equality and women’s rights, 238, 246 Gender equality (SDG 5), 3, 5, 7, 158, 165, 176, 229 Gender inequality, 12, 44, 47, 48, 61, 75, 105, 157, 189, 196–198, 202, 204, 207, 216, 226, 263, 278, 287, 306, 307, 309, 310, 321 Gender inequality gaps, 215 Gender-neutral, 2, 9, 306, 316 Gender Parity Index (GPI), 95, 97, 101, 102, 104 Gender-related disadvantages, 195 Gender-related violence, 57 Gender Sector Statistics Plan (GSSP), 184 Gender Sector Working Group (GSWG), 184 Gender-sensitive, 2, 11, 52, 132–134, 137, 139, 147, 150, 162, 293 health-related, 134 Gender-specific, 83, 189, 214, 219, 319 Gender-specific constraints, 306, 307 Genital mutilation, 5, 58, 99 Ghana, 6, 42, 113, 114, 116, 118, 122, 124, 163, 170, 205, 257, 284, 310, 312, 318 Girl child, 41, 44–50, 97, 98, 102 Girl child education, 94–97, 100, 102, 104, 105, 197 Glass-ceiling, 198 Global Gender Gap Index, 182, 259 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, 49 Global maternal mortality, 76

331

Global North, 59, 96 Global South, 59, 96 Good health and well-being (SDG 3), 5, 7, 11, 229 Grant management, 239 Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 7, 19, 40, 43, 138, 157, 164, 182, 187, 214, 217, 221, 225, 245, 259, 261, 262, 296, 308

H Healthcare workers, 96, 121–123 Health challenges, 10, 32, 74, 77, 96, 97 Health-related crisis, 133, 134, 144, 147, 148, 150 Health-seeking behaviours, 79 Hunger (goal 2), 229

I Impact of COVID-19 on the informal economy, 215, 219, 221 Inequitable gender norms, 75 Infectious diseases, 186, 283 Influenza A (H1N1), 19 Informal economy, 6, 8, 11, 175, 214–220, 222, 224–226, 229, 230, 308 Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), 295, 318 Institute for Women’s Health, 73 Interim Steering Committee on GBV and Femicide (ISC-GBVF), 60 International Development Research Centre (IDRC), 157–160, 162 International Labour Organization (ILO), 216–220, 226 International Trade Centre/International Labour Organisation (ITCILO), 157,

332

INDEX

158, 160, 161, 163, 165, 166, 170, 174 J Job insecurity, 159 K Kenya Strategy for Development of Statistics (KSDS), 184 L Lack of social protection, 197 Lockdown, 24–27, 56, 111, 119, 123, 124 Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), 40, 50, 77–79 M Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs, 306 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), 159, 161–163, 166, 168–172, 176 Middle East and North Africa, 58, 198, 221 Midwives, 10, 82, 111–115, 117–123, 125, 182 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), 3, 17, 21 N National Emergency Response Committee (NERC), 43, 182, 183 National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), 184, 189, 190 National Influenza Centre Laboratory, National Public Health

Laboratories, Ministry of Health, 181 National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), 100 Natural disasters, 133, 134, 261 New normal , 284 Nigeria, 2, 10, 42, 43, 46, 58, 61, 82, 93, 95, 97–99, 103, 123, 138, 139, 143, 144, 171, 201, 205, 206, 214, 217, 227, 229, 243, 245, 257, 261–263, 267, 272, 284, 317, 318 No poverty target of SDG 1, 45 North and Middle East Africa, 58 Novel influenza virus, 19 Nurse(s), 10, 82, 111–115, 118–123, 125, 290 P Pandemic containment measures, 182, 183 Pandemic recovery in Africa, 12, 307 Partnerships (SDG 17), 19, 28–30, 318 People (SDGs 1-5), 19, 23–25 Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), 28, 80, 112, 113, 117, 121, 163, 181, 186 Person-to-person transmission, 42, 48, 52 Physical exhaustion, 112 Physical impact, 121 Physical impact of COVID-19, 115 Plagued, 77 Planet (SDGs 11-13), 19, 26–28 Post-COVID Africa, 239, 248 Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), 76 Poverty (goal 1), 229 Promote good health and wellbeing, 74 Pro-SDG policies, 23 Prosperity (SDGs 8-10), 19, 25–26

INDEX

Psychological impact of COVID-19, 118 Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), 39, 47 Public health pandemic, 96

Q Quarantine, 40, 42, 80, 262, 284

R Regional Economic Communities (RECs), 41 Restricted access, 8, 196 Restrictive measures, 42, 45, 123 Rio de Janeiro, 3

S School closures, 8, 24, 46, 94, 132, 160, 289 SDG delivery, 34 Self-isolation, 27, 40, 42 Self-protective measures, 55 17 SDGs, 3, 18 Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), 293, 295, 298 Sexual violence, 57, 58, 60, 99, 285 Small businesses, 44, 134, 161, 173, 295 Social impact of Covid-19, 115, 119 Socio-economic, 6, 10, 11, 23, 31, 40, 43, 45, 47–49, 56, 59, 62, 66, 94, 97, 99, 103, 162, 182, 188–190, 197, 200, 201, 257, 261, 278, 295, 306, 308, 313, 319 and psychological consequences, 56 Socioeconomically disadvantaged, 9, 25 Spanish flu, 19, 31, 283

333

State Department of Gender Affairs, 190 Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 6, 10, 40–42, 44–46, 48–52, 58, 75, 77, 79, 95–98, 198, 217, 219, 220, 245, 261, 287, 288, 308, 310, 312 Survival, 6, 9, 26, 28, 82, 132, 133, 314, 315, 320 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, target 2, 57, 59, 64, 65, 67 T Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), 101 Technological advancements, 283 Technological determinism, 246 The International Council of Nurses (ICN), 113 U Under-representation of women, 195 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 3, 4, 10, 12, 17, 74, 76, 77, 229 United Nations Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2, 40 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 4, 95 Unpaid care work, 8, 158, 260, 263 V Virtual learning, 94, 96, 98, 100, 103 Vulnerability of women, 59, 62, 132, 201 W Woman entrepreneurship, 313 Women and fintech, 240

334

INDEX

Women empowerment, 5, 9, 196, 205, 206, 247, 248, 285–287, 292, 296, 318 Women in Sub-Saharan Africa, 6, 49, 50, 219, 222, 308 Women in tourism, 257–259, 261, 264, 268, 272, 277, 278 Women-owned businesses, 8, 25, 26, 132–134, 137, 139, 145, 147, 148, 150, 310, 311, 314, 320 Women-owned enterprises, 159, 161, 162, 166, 172, 308 Women’s entrepreneurship, 6, 11, 132, 147, 164, 175, 308, 309 Women smallholder farmers, 159 Women’s participation in the informal economy, 215, 218

World Bank Global Findex, 228 World Health Organization (WHO), 1, 2, 7, 19, 39–43, 45, 47, 48, 56, 111, 112, 131, 133, 135, 255 World Vision’s Women and Web Project, 297

Z Zero AIDS, 18 Zero discrimination against women and girls, 18 Zero hunger (SDG 2), 5, 7, 18, 29, 45, 82 Zero poverty, 18