Impact of COVID-19 on Transport and Trade in Africa

Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a human disease that was reported to have first manifested itself at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, China. Its impact on society was immediate; it quickly spread throughout the world through human transmission, and was formally classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. The report seeks to investigate the economic aspects, specifically transit transport and trade facilitation, in the countries of Africa, with a particular emphasis on landlocked and small island developing countries. It seeks to identify critical areas that would require immediate action by governments (policymakers, and customs and other border agencies), ports and other logistics operators, the business community and society at large. The present report focuses on the short-term impact of the virus on transport operations and trade in African countries.