Socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on African economies, social cohesion, and governance: evidence from Benin, Burkina Faso, and South Africa

This collaborative project will contribute to policies and strategies to address the immediate and longer-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on economies, social cohesion, and governance in Benin, Burkina Faso, and South Africa. The multidisciplinary and multi-country team of researchers, composed of both men and women, will investigate the negative income shock and state regulations resulting from the pandemic and their corresponding effects on social cohesion, governance, and violence (including violent extremism) in Africa. They will employ mixed methods and a comparative approach across contexts, conduct experiments, and analyze secondary data sources, incorporating a strong gender analysis throughout. The study findings will be positioned for use by policymakers, practitioners, and civil society actors to inform the design and implementation of effective responses to the various effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Benin, Burkina Faso, South Africa and beyond. The project will contribute to enhancing collaboration between researchers in Africa and strengthen their contribution to the development of effective and rapid responses to the social and economic effects of the pandemic in Africa.