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Campus Review
October 8, 2014
Page 24
Economic Toll of Ebola in Africa:
Current and Future Challenges for U.S. Firms
by Dr. Alphonso O. Ogbuehi
President Obama’s U.S.-Africa Leaders
Summit concluded recently with much
excitement among both U.S. corporate
leaders and chieftains of Africa’s leading
enterprises. All told, the White House
announced nearly $14 billion in total new
investments into Africa. However, the
ongoing spread of Ebola has the potential
to severely curtail economic growth in the
affected regions, especially in West
Africa.
Short-term pains
The ongoing spread of Ebola, however, is
beginning to have severe economic
impacts in the region. In the short term,
the aviation industry has been hardest hit.
Some international airlines like British
Airways and Emirates have suspended
operations in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra
Leone. In the wake of the current out-
break, business and tourist travel in West
Africa have been severely impacted with
cancellations.
Some U.S. firms have begun to extract
key expatriate staff from the hardest-hit
countries. Others have fortified their in-
house healthcare facilities to protect and
treat local staff and their families. In
Liberia, where Bridgestone Firestone has
7,300 employees on their rubber planta-
tion, its 300-bed hospital has been retrofit-
ted to handle Ebola patients based on the
Center for Disease Control and
Prevention’s recommended guidelines.
With more than 1,000 estimated deaths so
far from the current outbreak, much of
this in the endemic countries of Guinea,
Liberia, and Sierra Leone, a prolonged
crisis could spell negative economic con-
sequences. Much as the severe acute res-
piratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak that
started in Asia in 2003 and spread to
dozens of countries in North America,
South America, Europe, and Asia before it
was contained, we may yet see further
outbreaks in the more countries before it
is finally arrested.
The exact economic impact of this situa-
tion may not be completely felt until
much later when the current situation is
brought under control. In the short term,
unemployment rates will likely continue
to rise and external aid will be necessary
from institutions like the World Bank and
other agencies. In many of the affected
countries, national borders are nearly
closed with severe restrictions on the
movement of citizens. With such restric-
tions, the economic activity is essentially
at a standstill. In a region where signifi-
cant portions of the population lived
below the poverty line before Ebola, eco-
nomic desperation cannot be exaggerated.
The rebuilding process will surely take
years, recognizing the psychological dam-
ages that must be repaired in these coun-
tries before the people can fully heal and
restart their lives. It may take nothing
short of an economic rebirth for these
countries, especially if foreign aid is not
as forthcoming as promised.
The long-term View
Despite the ongoing challenges and the
gradual erosion of economic gains
achieved over the past several years, this
region will surely rebound from this dev-
astating crisis. Indeed, Ebola does not rep-
resent an amputation of the economic life
of the people, despite its severity.
Moreover, while the Ebola disaster may
seem to have overshadowed the events of
the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in D.C.
just two weeks ago, U.S. firms and
investors must remain focused on the
long-term fundamentals that make Africa
an attractive market. These fundamentals
include more stable political and econom-
ic reforms that have propelled the growth
of the last decade, and an expanding,
well-educated middle class.
Clayton State University’s College of Health and School of Nursing held a dedication and reception honoring Kaiser Permanente for their generosity on
Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. in the Harry S. Downs Center for Continuing Education Atrium.