GeoPoll has unveiled a six-nation survey revealing sliding family finances and heightening stress and distress across Africa, as the COVID-19 pandemic and measures bite harder, but news of a vaccine brings some optimism. Yet the survey reports powerful differences between nations in the financial and emotional impact of the pandemic, with Kenya and South Africa feeling worse effects than Nigeria, Mozambique, Cote D’Ivoire and DRC.
The survey, which polled 3,000 Africans in late November 2020, found most had suffered income falls over the last five months. An earlier poll by GeoPoll reported a majority experienced income drops from March to June. However, in the November poll, 79 per cent of respondents reported further declines since June, with 52 per cent saying these had been substantial.
Demonstrating the importance of a vaccine to improving the continent’s economic outlook, the study found 62 per cent of respondents were likely to seek a vaccine as soon as it is available. Respondents in South Africa, which has suffered the most infections of any country in Africa, were most likely to seek a vaccine, while those in DRC reported the lowest likelihood of seeking a vaccine right away.
The financial impact varied sharply by nation, with almost two-thirds of Kenyans, at 64 per cent, reporting their income had fallen considerably since June, compared with 55 per cent in South Africa and Mozambique, and less than half of respondents in Nigeria, Cote D’Ivoire and DRC.
In addition, the survey found a direct relationship between financial impact and emotional wellbeing, with over half of those whose income has decreased saying their emotional health has suffered due to COVID-19. In Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi, a full three quarters reported a decline in their emotional wellbeing, as they were polled during their eighth consecutive month under curfew.
These findings align with the level of restrictions in place and the resulting changes in routine. While South Africa went through a strict lockdown earlier in the year, and Kenya remains under a curfew, measures to stop the virus’ spread have been less wide-reaching in the other nations studied.
“For the first time, we have seen evidence of differing national psyches on the pandemic, with those in countries experiencing the hardest economic impacts also reporting worse emotional states. Despite this, most are optimistic about economic improvements in the coming year, and over 60 per cent are likely to take a vaccine as soon as it is available,” said Roxana Elliott, GeoPoll’s VP of Marketing.
While more than a quarter believe that the economic impacts of COVID-19 will last at least a year, there is evidence of optimism that the virus’ impacts will slow in 2021. Overall, 65 per cent believe that their personal finances will improve in the next year, while predictions about each country’s economy are more varied.
Kenyans were the most bearish about their country’s economic outlook, with 44 per cent expecting the economy to improve over the next year compared to 40 per cent expecting it to deteriorate. This was much more downbeat than South Africa, which reported the next most negative outlook, and a long way from the ebullience of Nigeria, where 56 per cent believe the economy will improve over the next year, and only 25 per cent that it will get worse.
