The Pandemic and the Economy of Africa: Conflicting Strategies between Tanzania and Ghana

While the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths [35] continues to rise all over the world, the numbers in Africa are not as high as predicted. With the exception of South Africa and Egypt, other countries in the continent seem to be faring well. There are still conflicting reasons as to how Africa has coped well in the face of the pandemic. While some countries, like Ghana, introduced lockdown measures, others, like Tanzania, dismissed the idea of a lockdown. Still, both countries have relatively less confirmed deaths. This article explores how messages conveyed by the Tanzanian and Ghanaian governments have played a role in dealing with the pandemic and the economic impact they face. We argue that the government messages did play a role in the registered confirmed cases. Tanzania, for instance, stopped registering cases and deaths after the president expressed distrust in the cases that were being announced, worried about what it could do to the economy. In Ghana, while the president took a different approach, his messages of hope and care prompted people to be more cautious, worrying about the economy later.