Covid-19 has created deeper inequalities and increased poverty while richer households and nations have begun to recover; the world’s poor and working class continue to absorb its impacts.
The Covid-19 pandemic highlights the relationship between the failures and contradictions of capitalism and the global destruction of nature and deepening socio-economic inequalities. The manner in which Covid-19 continues to unfold reflects the rhythm of existing patterns of exploitation, placing at the centre of its destructive path the world’s already vulnerable people.
In Africa, before the Covid-19 pandemic, governments and mining companies already possessed a reputation for colluding in favour of the operations of
mining companies. Mining operations are associated with the widespread destruction of nature, increasing militarisation and violence, the dispossession of land
and relocation of communities. This threatens the lives and livelihoods of mining-affected communities and the burden to survive is shouldered by gendered labour.
The crises faced by the African continent escalate as capitalism continues to descend into deeper crises and contradictions. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic
has brought to the fore questions that have affected the majority of people on the continent since the independence period. As a result, WoMin and partners
sought to understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic through a series of dialogues and processes entitled People in Lockdown, Extractive Industries
in Business.
This synthesis report explores the key findings of five long case studies (Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire) presented as part of the series.