There are two areas where COVID-19 disruptions could be leveraged in particular: health and education. The pandemic has shown the critical importance of enhanced production capacities for medicines, vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. Africa’s pharmaceutical manufacturing sector contributes only 25% - 30% of the continent’s total needs, thus resulting in over 70 percent of Africa’s pharmaceutical needs being met through importation. Building Africa’s resilience post COVID-19 means prioritising the implementation of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa and the establishment of the African Medicine Agency. This needs political commitment to prioritise investment for regulatory capacity development, pursue convergence and harmonisation of medical products regulation, and allocating adequate resources.

The pandemic has also transformed the traditional schooling model globally. This is one area where the pandemic has shown the great digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world, with some 250 million African children left out of school, despite various efforts made by governments. Only massive investments in ICT infrastructures and massive adoption of ICT solutions in the education sector in Africa will enable the continent to shift toward the future of learning, teaching, curriculum design and assessments with a growing integration of digital technologies.

In order to leverage the disruptions in the health and education sectors, there is one factor that is a game changer: the rebooting of African policy making. Since the 1970s, policymaking in Africa has equated development with the management of poverty. The COVID-19 creates an opportunity to shift the focus to retaining and creating wealth, better managing Africa’s own resources and fostering inclusiveness. This is a significant challenge. However, if properly addressed, it will mobilise the funding needed to prioritise Africa’s most valuable resource: its human capital. It is high time to put human capital at the centre of policymaking in Africa.