NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Wolfgang Fengler, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, Indermit Gill, Benedicte Baduel, P. Facundo Cuevas

In this time of crisis, we are often reminded of a famous quote, attributed to Churchill during World War II: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” While South Africa is not in the middle of a physical war, it is battling the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis in full force. Like most other countries, South Africa could not escape the pandemic. It suffered the loss of lives and livelihoods. At the time of writing, in early July 2021, more than 64,000 South Africans have lost their lives. The third wave is hitting the country very hard and infections keep rising every day. But there is also light at the end of a very long tunnel.

Photo courtesy of Exchanges Photos.