Back in 2019, East Africa housed three of the world’s fastest-growing economies – Ethiopia, Rwanda and South Sudan. Then two major events upset the regional apple cart. While 2020 will be remembered by many as an annus horribilis, for East Africa the stakes were high.
First, the Covid-19 pandemic, which by 2 April had entirely shut down both local and international flights. Tourism contributes around 17% to export earnings, accounting for around 10% of regional GDP. And then war broke out in Ethiopia, sending shockwaves throughout the region and the country.
So what will the future hold? Let’s take a look at how economies have been adapting to these unfriendly disruptions.
Quick-thinking airlines
“We have emergency response plans as an airline, but sometimes we don’t anticipate this level of disruption”, said Allan Kilavuka, the CEO of Kenya Airlines, speaking at our online Africa CEO
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