The Global South’s Pandemic Path to Self-Reliance
The post-1945 paradigm of external development finance has been primarily driven by the developed countries of the Global North and shaped by their geopolitical agenda. But the COVID-19 pandemic offers developing countries the chance to reinvent and reboot their economies, and shake off the disabling legacy of foreign aid dependency.
MELBOURNE – COVID-19 continues to have a devastating impact on public health and to rattle the global economy with structural shocks. The pandemic has now killed more than one million people, while the International Monetary Fund estimates that global GDP will shrink by 4.4% in 2020. But, strange as it may seem, the current crisis could offer developing countries a path toward greater economic self-reliance.