Samuel Oloruntoba’s newly published article in The Conversation, co-authored with discusses how African countries can create a political economy of care post COVID-19.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the necessity to rethink the existing economic model informed by capitalist logics of exploitation and profit-making. In many instances, the desire for profit trumps consideration for welfare and the environment.
In many African countries, exploitation of minerals without beneficiation, or value addition, has contributed to mass poverty. This compromises people’s health and ability to cope with the outbreak of a pandemic of the magnitude of COVID-19.
What emerged poignantly from coping with COVID-19 is the urgent need to think about the welfare of the many, rather than profits and consumerism. An economy of welfare considers the workers, women and other vulnerable groups in the society.
Capitalism, which extols profit maximisation, needs to make way for social capitalism. This would give living wages for workers and care for the environment are given higher priority. Failure to rethink the current model will accentuate poverty and inequality. This, in turn, will make people more vulnerable to global shocks that may result from future pandemics.
Full article can be found here: The Conversation