The Pandemic and the Economy of Africa: Conflicting Strategies between Tanzania and Ghana

Article


Mwainyekule, L. H. and Frimpong, F. 2020. The Pandemic and the Economy of Africa: Conflicting Strategies between Tanzania and Ghana. Digital Government: Research and Practice. 1 (Art. 33). https://doi.org/10.1145/3419217
AuthorsMwainyekule, L. H. and Frimpong, F.
Abstract

While the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths [35] continues to rise all over the world, the numbers in Africa are not as high as predicted. With the exception of South Africa and Egypt, other countries in the continent seem to be faring well. There are still conflicting reasons as to how Africa has coped well in the face of the pandemic. While some countries, like Ghana, introduced lockdown measures, others, like Tanzania, dismissed the idea of a lockdown. Still, both countries have relatively less confirmed deaths. This article explores how messages conveyed by the Tanzanian and Ghanaian governments have played a role in dealing with the pandemic and the economic impact they face. We argue that the government messages did play a role in the registered confirmed cases. Tanzania, for instance, stopped registering cases and deaths after the president expressed distrust in the cases that were being announced, worried about what it could do to the economy. In Ghana, while the president took a different approach, his messages of hope and care prompted people to be more cautious, worrying about the economy later.

JournalDigital Government: Research and Practice
Journal citation1 (Art. 33)
ISSN2691-199X
Year2020
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Anyone
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1145/3419217
Publication dates
Online25 Sep 2020
Publication process dates
Accepted01 Aug 2020
Deposited29 Sep 2020
Copyright holder© 2020 The Authors
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