As we continue to reflect on the impact of COVID-19 in Africa over a year later, we feature a piece from His Excellency Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, former President (2010-2015) , Federal Republic of Nigeria. In this article, he reflects on the management of the pandemic and how it has affected areas of governance and economic livelihoods in Africa. Within this context, he calls for a new African renaissance to promote peace and economic development.
Also included in this issue, is a contribution from Professor Youssef Mahmoud, author of the recently published book, Whose Peace Are We Building?: Leadership for Peace in Africa (I.B. Tauris, 2021). In his piece, Prof Mahmoud appraises the use of collective system leadership in responding to COVID-19 and looks at how this approach could be used to build sustainable peace.
Ambassador Said Djinnit also tackles the issue of sustainable peace in his article by emphasising the value of conflict prevention and specifically, the role of dialogue. In drawing on his many years of experience in the field, Ambassador Djinnit explains that “there is hardly a problem without solution and that everything should be done to create the conditions for dialogue”.
Finally, ACCORD’s Katharine Bebington and Paidamwoyo Mudzimuirema reflect on the high level emergency meeting of African ministers convened by the African Union (AU) and the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) which took place on 8 May 2021 to review the impact of the pandemic on the continent and evaluate the implementation of the Joint Continental Strategy to combat COVID-19.
