Economic prospects are predicting that 2021 will be a happier year for Pension Schemes. The devasting impact of Covid-19 had far reaching implications on the pension sector, especially in 2020 caused by several factors.

Also Read: Covid Economics: Kenya’s navigation of debt relief

• We had massive payouts, especially in the hospitality sector as companies closed down and retrenched. Pension scheme members made early access to pension benefits to cushion their financial well-being.
• A number of employers could not afford contributions funding to pension scheme and So they adapted to this challenge by obtaining a reprieve from the Retirement Benefits Authority to have temporal suspension of contributions deduction and remittance.
• The stock market also had a significant dip in valuations occasioned decline in earnings from a number of counters especially banking sector.
• In 2020 the GDP growth dropped to 1% growth compared to the projected growth of about 5%.

Despite the …

As the largest economy in Africa, with huge gas reserves and high solar energy potential, Nigeria has all the natural resources necessary to meet the growing demand for electricity. However, the inadequate energy infrastructure still leaves a significant part of the population without power or relying on oil-fired back-up generators. If Nigeria can improve its energy infrastructure and unlock its gas-to-power generation potential, it paves the way to integrating low-cost renewable energy, bringing electricity and development opportunities to rural villages, driving industrial growth and employment, and increasing prosperity across the country.

There is no doubt that gas has an important role to play in meeting Nigeria’s electricity demand, but to achieve this, there is an urgent need to reform the gas and electricity sectors. The poor condition of the gas transmission and distribution system is a major constraint as domestic supply shortages and insufficient pressure severely affect the reliability of …

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic gripped the world with shock and overwhelmed the health care systems of most nations. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel human coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, which began in Wuhan, China on December 8, 2019, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020, with over seven million cases globally as of June 7, 20201. 

In July 2020, over 663,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases were recorded in Africa with more than 343,000 recoveries and 14,000 deaths. 324,211 cases were recorded in South Africa with 4,699 deaths, followed by 34,854 confirmed cases in Nigeria and 769 deaths, 26,125 confirmed cases and 139 deaths in Ghana. Countries currently with the lowest cases in the region are Gambia, Seychelles and Eritrea. Southern Africa is the most affected area across the continent in terms of positive Covid-19 cases and Northern Africa closely …

Vaccine diplomacy will take centre stage for the global political economy in 2021. It is rapidly emerging as an important tool in the arsenal of global superpowers as they seek to expand their geostrategic influence amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Affordable and equitable access to Covid vaccines has the potential to shape the global economic recovery, and speedy and effective rollout represents a huge opportunity to redraw global power maps and reshape strategic alliances. Naturally, the stakes are high, and the competition is intense to achieve both first-mover advantage and scale.

Africa will emerge as a theatre of competition. But with limited financial resources and a lack of bargaining power the option set will be limited for African countries as they try to procure the vaccine. This lopsided power dynamic, which has entrenched them firmly at the back of the vaccine queue, is being described as vaccine apartheid. John Nkengasong of …

‘If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers, and your business will take care of itself ‘J.W.Marriott’

The spread of COVID-19, (commonly referred to as Corona Virus) has now become a household term that is apparent worldwide. As a global health emergency, the hope is that the new vaccines that are aimed to roll out in early January 2021, will add to the greater safety of the human population, namely public areas and workspaces.

Though much of the frontline workers will be vaccinated first, followed by those considered in the vulnerable category, the goal for many countries is to ensure that their populations are vaccinated first.

As Governments/Employers respond to the crisis and slowing down the spread of the virus, decisions to postpone events, impose travel restrictions, withdrawal of everyday services; (restaurants, parks, beaches, cinemas, and entertainment venues) school closures, and work from home …

In a few months, COVID-19 has disrupted our lives, and we are yet to grasp the full extent of it. While the pandemic is global, it exposes current inequalities in Africa: the biggest impact will be on the most fragile countries – as well as on the impoverished, the uninsured, and the information-poor. Beyond the number of infections, deaths, jobs lost and the hit on national economies, COVID-19 will trigger a surge in extreme poverty on the African continent. Various studies have already predicted that an additional 12 million Africans will be pushed below the threshold of living with an income of less than USD 1.9 per day.

While it is easy to dwell on the challenges faced in an unexpected year like 2020, true entrepreneurs have a natural gift to focus on solutions, take action and find a silver lining to the crisis. Specifically, social entrepreneurs have a vital …