Universal and unprecedented, COVID-19 has had an irreparable impact on the world over the last 12 months. No country has been left unharmed and the pandemic has amplified both international and internal inequalities and interests. Africa’s development trajectory has been halted in its tracks with poverty on the increase for the first time in decades.

Join the South Africa Chapter in a discussion with the distinguished Graduate Institute alumnus, Professor Carlos Lopes, who has extensive experience leading and advising international organisations, governments and development institutions on social and economic development,about the specific impact that COVID-19 has had on Africa. We will hear about his prognosis for African countries in 2021, how they will meet the challenge of tackling COVID-19 in an inclusive manner while dealing with growing debt and sharp GDP contractions and how they can “build back better” while leveraging new pan-African initiatives, such as the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfTCA).

Professor Carlos Lopes currently serves as Honorary Professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town, as well as Visiting Professor at Sciences Po, Paris, and Associate Fellow at Chatham House, London.

Professor Lopes previously served as head of the UN Institute for Training and Research, the UN System Staff College and as UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa. He has also served on many high-level boards, such as the Global Commission for Economy and Climate and the Kofi Annan Foundation.

Professor Lopes holds a PhD from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris and an MA from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.