‘An economic calamity’: Africa faces years of post-Covid instability

Damage from pandemic could quash ambitions, exacerbate tensions and deepen repression in parts of continent

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Analysts and experts are warning of many years of instability across Africa, possibly leading to wars and political upheavals, as the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic deepens across the continent.

Though many of the likely consequences are yet to become evident, recent unrest in southern Africa, increased extremist violence in the Sahel and growing instability in parts of west Africa can all be attributed in part to the outbreak, observers say.