This policy insight synthesises the findings of six sub-Saharan African country case studies, analysing their government policy responses to the trade and employment shocks prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Vulnerability to the shock was most pronounced in the wealthier, more open, diversified and formalised economies (South Africa and Senegal); in Nigeria, where trade and government balances are very sensitive to oil price fluctuations; and in Uganda, which reacted with a strict domestic lockdown.

By contrast, growth decelerated only marginally in Benin and Tanzania, where government reactions were minimal or delayed. The capacity to offer a counter fiscal stimulus, liquidity support through loan guarantees and concessional debt, and an accommodative monetary policy depends on the income status of the economy, depth of financial markets, size of the government sector, and access to global development finance channels.

South Africa and Senegal were able to put into effect the most substantive stimulus packages, while Nigeria was constrained by having the smallest and most volatile tax base and a high bank liquidity profile. Save for Benin and Uganda, which devoted half their stimulus package to health spending, most countries concentrated on industry support and tax relief. Here South Africa was an outlier, instead using 60% of its package for unemployment and social security benefits owing to a sharp rise in unemployment and food stress.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges for the African continent in achieving peace, justice and inclusive and effective institutions, including significant negative effects on economic, social and political conditions. This policy brief presents and discusses key trends on SDG 16 on the African continent, including: an increasing concentration and strengthening of executive power; shrinking civic space and enlarged restrictions on civil liberties and media independence; disproportionate effects for women and other vulnerable groups; the worsening of conflict triggers; and declining trust in institutions and rising corruption. To reverse these trends and strengthen progress towards the goal, this policy brief recommends that the digitalization process must be accelerated; social protection of vulnerable groups must be ensured; and institutional accountability structures must be built to strengthen public trust as a means to better support inclusive recovery efforts. 

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‘Tobacco use is killing us and our planet’! Annually, tobacco use kills about 8 million people globally and 29,000 people in Nigeria. The economic costs of tobacco attributable disease on the Nigerian economy is estimated at US$1.71 billion per annum including the direct and indirect costs of tobacco. Tobacco smokers’ life expectancy is at least 10 years shorter than that of non-smokers. Exposure to second-hand smoke is a serious health hazard causing more than 41,000 deaths annually. Pregnant women who are exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to have a complication before and after child delivery. Children are not immune to this danger; each year, 150, 000 children under the age of five are killed by secondhand smoking. The deleterious effect of tobacco extends to smokeless tobacco,  also a known cause of cancer. The nicotine in smokeless tobacco increases the risk of sudden death due to irregular heartbeat (ventricular arrhythmias).

Tobacco use is not only killing people, it is poisoning our environment! Tobacco endangers the health of the planet with an environmental burden of 600 million trees cut down annually for tobacco production, 200 000 hectares of land cleared, 84 million tonnes of CO2 emitted, and 22 billion tonnes of water consumed. Moreover, agrochemicals used in tobacco cultivation poisons the land, soil and water, and tobacco production saturates the air with tonnes of toxins. Cigarette smoking alone pollutes the air ten times more than gas emissions. In the year 2019 alone, about 4,211,962 cigarette butts were collected from beaches and waterways globally. This implies that tobacco butt is the second most common type of environmental litre after food wrappers. The cigarette butts contain toxic chemicals such as nicotine and heavy metals which endangers aquatic life and microorganism. 

Tobacco Taxation can mitigate these challenges

Tobacco taxation, passed on to smokers in the form of higher cigarette prices, has been acknowledged not only as one of the most effective control strategies for decreasing smoking and its adverse health consequences but also as an effective strategy for reducing the environmental burden of tobacco. Unfortunately, tobacco tax as an effective measure which encourages smokers to quit and prevents others from taking up smoking is the least effective in Nigeria. This ineffectiveness majorly is a result of the low tobacco excise tax rate. In addition, despite the magnitude of the health and environmental burden of tobacco consumption in Nigeria, the overall performance of tobacco tax policies is very poor. The recent 2018 special excise tax on tobacco products only raises the excise tax burden from 12 percent to an estimated 17 percent. This is contrary to best practices and far below the ECOWAS and WHO recommended benchmark of 50 percent and 70 percent respectively. The current tobacco tax structure in Nigeria is too low to discourage tobacco use and protect the environment.

Poor quality tax governance in terms of accountability, responsiveness and sound public finance management is one of the underlying causes of Nigeria’s ineffective tobacco tax system. The tobacco industry takes advantage of the administrative loopholes to undermine tobacco tax reforms. Strong tax administration as well as improving enforcement capacity enhances the impact of higher tobacco taxes (WHO).

Moreover, tobacco industry interference posed a challenge in implementing effective tobacco taxation in Nigeria. The Tobacco industry is one of the booming industries in Nigeria. Domestic market share is around 66 percent, imported market share is approximately 24 percent and illegal market share accounts for 10 percent of tobacco market supply in Nigeria. Given its vast resources and market power, the tobacco industry is a powerful force that is not deterred by government actions. The tobacco industry employs several strategies to influence policy and postpone regulation. Delaying tobacco control laws and authorizing new tobacco products are all examples of these interference. Nigeria's legislative authorities should be active to ensure that the tobacco industry does not play a decision-making role in tobacco legislations.

Increased tobacco taxation and an effective tobacco taxation system should be elevated by the government as top health policy priority in Nigeria. The key viable elements to address the weak tobacco tax system in Nigeria are (i) implement a broad-based, uniform tax that is difficult to avoid (ii) extend regulations and tax policy on tobacco products and sales to eliminate single-use filters and reduce post-consumption waste. (iii) beware of tobacco industry interference and (iv) earmark tobacco tax revenue to improve public health and safeguard the environment. Nigeria's national health systems require a paradigm shift away from fragmented response approach and toward more improved systemic approaches. This could significantly increase funds for health care, improve environmental conditions, enhance public trust, accountability and welfare.

Public participation is an integral aspect of ensuring effective and advanced data governance practices. African countries are largely in need of strong and efficient data governance systems. To build such systems, there is an urgent need to carry the public along in policy formation, development and output. A prerequisite for active public engagement in data policy making is a citizenry that is aware and knowledgeable about data issues.

This brief was authored by Tomiwa Ilori, Sone Osakwe and Adedeji Adeniran

The rapid growth of AI is swiftly changing the world of work and business. Embedded in this growth is its potential to create new opportunities for gender equality. However, if not properly engaged or utilized, AI also has the capacity to reinforce gender bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. AI is gaining a lot of attention through advancements in machine learning and the increasing use of algorithms for pattern recognition. It is used across various fields and sectors to shape our economic, political, cultural, and social interactions; used in areas such as approval of bank loans, job recruitment, medical diagnostics, etc.

World leaders and governments are showing their commitment to the growth of AI by investing heavily in it. The US government’s federal spending on AI rose to almost $1billion in 2020 - which is about a 50% increase from its spendings in 2018 and the Canadian government also invested about $125million in its AI strategy in 2017. The private sector on the other hand has a leading position in investment in AI. Global total AI investment by the private sector was over $50billion in 2021 with Nvidia Corp and Alphabet Inc (Google) in the forefront, owning a large portion of about 50% of the total investment. However, with the issues of accountability and privacy violation prevalent in the present digital platform operation, leaving the powerful tool of AI unchecked can foster some of social issues in the digital space including gender discrimination. Therefore, in order to truly advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, gender considerations and issues alongside regulatory policies need to be mainstreamed in AI.

Gender Bias and AI

The gender bias found in AI takes up two forms. Bias in terms of the exclusion of women from the AI sector and Bias found in the building of algorithms. Gender equality in the workplace has been a critical issue for decades. About 80% of the male gender make up the workforce of the AI industry with only about 18% female machine learning researchers. It should be of great concern that women make up only a small percentage of the technological workforce; an industry that is seen as a force for societal transformation.

The first steps in building algorithms are the selections of training datasets. AI-generated patterns, predictions and recommended actions are reflections of the accuracy, universality and reliability of the data sets used, as well as the inherent assumptions and biases of the developers of the algorithms employed. Although one can say that AI is as good as the people behind it, it is important to note that one of the potentials of AI lies in its capacity to generate new solutions within the limits of inputs received. This is a fundamental aspect that needs to be kept in mind while training and implementing AI solutions for better gender equality.  Preventing gender biases in software applications, therefore, calls for better corporate governance that includes diversity in hiring and retention practices and enabling a work culture where gender equality principles are explicit and prioritise accountability.

Diverse teams made up of both men and women are not just better at recognizing skewed data, but they're also more likely to spot issues that could have or result in negative societal outcomes. Thus, emphasising the need for higher participation of women and gender experts in the process of principle formulations at the foundation level, and an improvement in the representation of women in technical roles and in the boardrooms of tech companies. Talent acquisition, as well as women empowerment, will therefore be critical in bridging the gender gap in AI and helping women gain their ground in the industry.

The way forward in bridging the gap

Considering the two forms of gender bias mentioned above, the following are highlights of key issues and proposed recommendations that need to be addressed in order to bridge the gender gap in the AI industry.

• In the building of algorithms, an inclusive unbiased dataset needs be used as AI learn from historical patterns by predicting the future based on the past. Therefore, using historical records to train AI without being cautious about these biases is like repeating history, but this time with a more powerful tool.
• Women need to be given opportunities to play an active role in shaping the next generation of technologies, so diversity is considered, and stereotypes are not reproduced.
• Capacity building and empowerment of women through education at the grass-root level to help them break into the AI sector. Creating awareness of the AI industry for girls in schools to spark their interest and also providing support for women making career change to easily transition into the sector.
• Creation of a robust and gender-inclusive AI guidelines, principles, and codes of ethics within the technology industry to help regulate activities in the sector.