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The coronavirus pandemic has swept through a world that was already deeply unequal. In country after country, it has magnified and increased these inequalities. The poorest people are the least able to isolate themselves, to protect themselves.
They are more likely to have pre-existing health problems, making them more likely to die. Economically, it is ordinary people who are losing their jobs by the tens of millions, facing enormous levels of hunger and hardship.
Sub-Saharan Africa has just one country, South Africa is in the top 50 in engagement index, and the region accounts for three out of five of the countries at the bottom.
South Africa leads the Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index (CRI) in Africa (18th position globally) and is at the top of the fiscal pillar of the CRI 2020 Index globally.
But despite the country’s commitment to reducing inequality, it remains one of the most unequal countries in the world.
The CRI index includes as a negative indicator the degree to which a country adopts and implements harmful tax practices (HTP), attracting corporate profits from other countries and eroding their tax bases and their ability to combat inequality.
Kenya responded to the pandemic with tax cuts for wealthy individuals and businesses and minimal health and social protection measures.
However, the country had registered a good CRI score before COVID-19 (the sixth highest in Africa). Nigeria has one in five children out of school worldwide. The country ranks very low in tax collection.
Ethiopia stands out for spending the second highest share of the budget on education and for having significant budgets for health and social protection, with a significant impact on poverty reduction.
Togo has the second most progressive tax system in the world on paper, but is disappointed by poor tax collection. Tanzania is among the countries with the most oriented tax systems to reduce inequality.
Niger, Liberia, and Uganda are said to exhibit extreme wage inequality.
Women are among the most economically affected, as they are most likely to be in precarious work and are also 70 percent of the world’s health workers.
Oxfam’s Report on Fighting Inequality in the Face of the Pandemic recommends that, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, governments should dramatically improve their efforts on progressive spending, taxes, and worker pay and protection.
Property and wealth taxes could raise trillions of dollars to need additional revenue to combat the COVID-19 crisis and fund the progress of public services.
That governments, international institutions and other stakeholders must work together to dramatically and rapidly improve data on inequality and related policies and to accurately and regularly monitor progress in reducing inequality.
Governments and international institutions that are serious about the deeply damaging impacts of inequality and the need to reduce it quickly must come together to advocate for urgent action, especially in light of the dramatic rise in inequality likely to occur as a result of the pandemic. of the coronavirus.
G20 countries should allocate 50 percent of the revenues earned from digital taxes, financial transactions, and other solidarity taxes in their own countries to increase aid flows.
The International Monetary Fund to institute mechanisms that would provide more fiscal space to spend on public services and increase resilience.
Comprehensive debt cancellation and reduction for many countries to ensure that they do not have unsustainable levels of debt that prevent them from investing in greater resilience through universal health and social protection.
(With input from Oxfam’s Pan African Program)
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