A counter-globalisation trend seems to have taken root in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, rampaging through world markets and prompting countries to implement trade protectionist strategies referred to in certain circles as “Covid nationalism”.
According to Abishek Sharma, senior director of transport at TradeMark East Africa, countries have started to compete with each other to show that their response to Covid is better than their neighbours.
It involves, among other things, stricter lockdown strategies and better testing regimes.
Regionally, for example, it can be seen in the manner Botswana has responded to the virus.
Although it’s one of the sub-Saharan countries to respond fastest to decontamination requirements, its testing control of truck drivers has also been described as inflexible, causing a ripple effect of congestion-related problems across the region.
In relation to strict Covid response strategies, Sharma told a webinar themed “The Impact of Covid-19 on Freight and Logistics” that the consequence had been the closing down of borders.
In his own region, he added, supply chains were integrated, especially when it came to food and medicines, and landlocked countries were critically dependent on countries with access to ports.
The cost-consequences or “true impact” of nationalistic responses to Covid-19, he argued, “will be visible once we get the GDP figures for the next quarter”.
According to another speaker at the webinar hosted by the SA Transport Conference and International Road Federation (IRF), Kazem Asayesh, Covid nationalism is alarmingly detrimental to the re-emergence of trade diversification.
The senior adviser for the IRF said although it was recognised that an adequate response to Covid-19 was important to protect communities and industries, it should not impede trade.
“What we see in a lot of countries is that they put up restrictions and then, when the numbers are going down, the restrictions aren’t lifted.
“This has something to do with protecting their own markets and industries – a new kind of protectionism that is used as an excuse.”
It was of crucial importance, Asayesh stressed, that the world returned to the facilitation of trade and transport through the reopening of borders, and that multi-national commerce be stimulated in a safe and secure manner.