The COVID-19 Pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa

An Opportunity to Rethink Strategic Competition on the Continent

Michael Shurkin, Alexander Noyes, Mary Kate Adgie

Expert InsightsPublished Jul 20, 2021

This Perspective assesses the effects and implications of COVID-19 on strategic competition in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors provide a brief overview of COVID-19 on the continent and discuss Chinese and Russian efforts to benefit from the pandemic. They offer recommendations for how the United States can expand beyond a competition lens and help African countries respond to the pandemic in ways that are mutually beneficial to all parties—including, in some cases, China. Sub-Saharan Africa is of growing importance on the world stage. This trend will only accelerate in the coming years and decades, requiring broader and deeper—and more-strategic—U.S. engagement on the continent.

Topics

Document Details

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Shurkin, Michael, Alexander Noyes, and Mary Kate Adgie, The COVID-19 Pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Opportunity to Rethink Strategic Competition on the Continent. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2021. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA1055-1.html.
BibTeX RIS

Research conducted by

This research was funded through the Department of the Air Force concept formulation funds and conducted within the Strategy and Doctrine Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE.

This publication is part of the RAND expert insights series. The expert insights series presents perspectives on timely policy issues.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.