Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on many economies across the world. It has also disrupted global and domestic supply chains of essential products. And despite the many problems caused by the pandemic, it has also brought with it great opportunities.
One such opportunity it has created is for Africa to reset its manufacturing sector. An opportunity like this that forces the production to evolve differently only comes once in a lifetime. It’s time for Africa to start manufacturing some essential products locally to sustain livelihoods in times of crisis.
Currently, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is totally dependent on expensive imported oxygen.
The crisis, however, has put the continent in a precarious position, with patients dying for lack of oxygen as the pandemic moves into the third wave that has proven to be more deadly than the previous two. And many countries in Africa do not have the right infrastructure to cheaply store oxygen.
Whilst in other parts of the world bulk liquid oxygen is stored in tanks then converted into gas and directly piped into hospital beds, SSA is in subsistence production and storage in small cylinders. As a result, a recent investigation by Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) established that the cost has escalated to as much as five times it is in other parts of the world.
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