Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Disaster Looms as Coronavirus Spreads Across Africa

Although so far only four cases of coronavirus have been detected in Mali, the country is preparing for a pandemic. This virus will devastate countries like Mali, already ravaged by colonialism and imperialism and suffering from a high poverty rate. 

Andrea D'Atri

March 27, 2020
Facebook Twitter Share
Malian researchers get dressed to conduct a COVID-19 coronavirus test at the University Clinical Research Center of Bamako. Photo by MICHELE CATTANI / AFP

When the first coronavirus death occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, the director of the World Health Organization (WHO) called on the continent to “prepare for the worst.” The death occurred in Burkina Faso, bordering Mali. As soon as the virus began to spread outside China, Mali renovated an abandoned hospital to transform it into a containment center with only seven beds and a respirator. 

The Malian Ministry of Health has just 600 liters of alcohol gel, 59 infrared thermometers, and 2,000 test kits. It has one ventilator per 1 million people, meaning 20 total ventilators. Voluntary self-isolation, meanwhile, cannot be considered in a country whose economy depends primarily on the informal sector.

Although it began spreading first in other continents, the coronavirus is now present in Africa. More than 1,500 positive cases have been detected in 43 African countries. In some countries, curfews, border closures, and lockdowns are already in place.

The Virus That Affects the Rich First

The class lines, at first, worked against the African elites. Many were infected through study, work, travel, and diplomacy in different European countries and returned home to escape the contagion. They transported the virus back to their homelands. These actions have aroused hatred among the poorer sections of the population, knowing that they are subjected to the worst health conditions. The actions of these African elites who fled the quarantines of France and Italy, ignoring proper quarantine procedures in their native country, have led to many being questioned for their privileges and irresponsibility. How can they not be angry when the entire economy class of a flight from Paris was quarantined in the airport of the capital of the Ivory Coast, while sportsmen and officials traveling on business could go directly to their homes without being checked?

When Experience Is the Only Resource

The dramatic resource inequalities between Africa and Europe have already been highlighted during health care crises of the past and present. In the midst of a total lack of resources, malaria, Ebola, Zika, and HIV have already been disastrous for many African citizens.

A steep curve of Covid-19 infections will be difficult to address with the current infrastructure and the general life conditions of the working classes and poor people. Togo has four beds available for coronavirus care. Kenya has a center with capacity for 120 people. About 190 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to clean water. In Zimbabwe or Somalia, not a single drop of rain has fallen in eight months, and droughts have already led to major famines. Tainted water is among the main causes of the spread of hemorrhagic diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid.

If the coronavirus spreads in Africa, as it has in China and Europe, we are likely to see catastrophic numbers of deaths among the younger population. The immune systems of the 26 million people with HIV or the 58 million children with chronic malnutrition will be more vulnerable to the disease.

The Virus Is Imperialism

Meanwhile, the imperialist states of France and Germany have prohibited their companies from exporting medical equipment. All European governments, without exception, have announced rescue plans for the big capitalists through credits and tax exemptions.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director of the WHO, warns that Africa must prepare for the worst. But no one points out that European and American imperialisms have already prepared the continent in the opposite direction. Centuries of imperialist plunder have sown misery, fratricidal wars, “natural” disasters, and pandemics that ravage a population for whom the struggle for survival is part of everyday life.

In the face of this, as Josefina Martínez and Giacomo Turci point out in Izquierda Diario: “The only progressive solution to the crisis of the coronavirus can come from the action of the working class not only on a national scale, but also internationally. And to bet on it, we need from now on to raise an emergency program that allows the exploited and oppressed not to come out defeated, dispersed and impoverished from this crisis, but as an active force, more organized and conscious of its own strength.”

Facebook Twitter Share

Andrea D'Atri

Andy is a leader of the Socialist Workers' Party (PTS) and the founder of the women's group Pan y Rosas (Bread and Roses) in Argentina. She is author of the book Bread and Roses: Gender and Class Under Capitalism, which has been published in Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Italy, France, and Germany. An English edition is now available from Pluto Press.

Twitter Instagram

Middle East-Africa

Nigeria’s Unprecedented Election Shows Importance of Politicized Youth in Time of Crisis

Nigeria’s national election is shaped by deepening capitalist crisis, outsider candidates, and an activated youth.

Sam Carliner

February 28, 2023
The crowd at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, holding a huge Palestine flag that reads "Free Palestine"

The Palestinian Cause Is a Winner of the World Cup

Palestine, while not having a team at the FIFA World Cup, won the hearts of fans and national teams, and grew in international support during the games.

Julia Wallace

December 19, 2022
US President Joe Biden and DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi joke during a group photo at the G20 of World Leaders Summit on October 30, 2021

Biden Shores Up Imperialist Interests at U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit

The United States is hosting a U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. The Biden administration’s supposed interest in developing African leadership is just a new strategy for U.S. imperialism to plunder the continent and counter China.

Sam Carliner

December 13, 2022
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa in a suit

“Farmgate” Threatens the Very Foundations of Capitalist Stability in South Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa faces an impeachment vote Tuesday. More than a simple case of corruption, it’s a political crisis of the ruling party and of capitalist stability in the country.

Sam Carliner

December 5, 2022

MOST RECENT

“Lesser Evil” Biden Wants More Border Patrol Than MAGA Republicans

Over the weekend, Biden bragged about his support for even more resources than “MAGA Republicans.” to “secure the border” on Twitter. This is “lesser evilism” in action.

Molly Rosenzweig

March 28, 2023
Customers clear shelves of water Sunday at Fresh Grocer in West Philadelphia.

A Chemical Plant Just Poisoned Philadelphia’s Water: A First-Hand Account of the Crisis

A company dumped thousands of gallons of poisonous chemicals into Philadelphia’s drinking water. This is an on-the-ground account by a Philadelphia worker and socialist.

Jason Koslowski

March 27, 2023
A group of protesters, in the front of whom are a line of protesters wearing red vests. In the front right corner, a white sign reds "vive la retraite," with a skeleton wearing a red hat in the middle of the sign on a black background with a text bubble on its left that reads, "oiv a bosse, c'est pas pour en crever!"

“French March”: The Right to Revolutionary Optimism

Evoking memories of '68, the students enter the fight against Macron. In our chaotic world, the future can only be built in the streets.

Eduardo Castilla

March 26, 2023

Joe Biden Is Deporting Russians Who Escaped Putin’s Draft — Let Them All In!

The United States is deporting Russians who sought asylum following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is a heinous attack against war resisters and shows that the proxy war in Ukraine is about capitalist rivalry first and foremost.

Sam Carliner

March 26, 2023