Transcriber: Jihyeon J. Kim Reviewer: Trang Phạm
The impact of pandemic on globalization.
Ten
Nine
Eight
Seven
Six
Five
Four
Three, two, one.
Happy new year!
That was me and my family in Singapore.
Little did we know that in the coming year
there would be pandemic on the rise.
Now that I think about it
I actually got sick in Singapore.
I had a fever,
I had chills, diarreha
and I was told by the crew’s top
that I needed to quarantine for a bit of a time.
It didn’t click at the time.
But when you look at the symptoms of COVID-19,
fever, chills, diarreha, sickness, and more,
I probably took the 50% of those.
I’m Zintle Ramano,
a founder of Black African and Beautiful,
also known as Bad Media Group,
a digital media agency that generates traffic in over 27 countries
in four continents.
And today, I’m here to speak to you about how globalization
has enabled the foundation of my work
and the impact that the pandemic has had on it.
The closing of borders around the world impacted a multitude of industries.
Now, did anyone hear about Zoom before last year?
Because I didn’t.
And all it took for the video conferencing service to take off
was grabbing the right opportunity at the right time.
And now Zoom is one of the most resourceful tools
for digital and remote work.
Technology is transforming a globalizing planet.
COVID 19 created a unification of some sorts,
as many of us were locked down in our homes.
We held tighter and closer to our loved ones,
making us worried about the uncertainty of an unknown future.
In South Africa,
not only will be met with corona virus and its volatility,
but we also had a shadow pandemic
being gender based violence and femicide that was exasperated by COVID.
Every day on the news, we were flooded with taglines of number of infections
and number of deaths, alongside missing girls, women and children.
Because of the lockdown measures,
many victims were unable to escape the perpetrators
and could not leave home to seek protection.
This was my experience of COVID 19,
and it activated feminine leadership and activism within me.
So what does it mean to break borders with South Africa?
And how can this great nation, my home,
become a leader for a post-pandemic world in globalisation?
According to UNAIDS, the richest of countries are vaccinating
a person every second, while the poorest of nations are yet to vaccine anyone
as recent as March 2021.
Protectionism can be defined as a theory
or practice by which countries protect
the domestic industries from foreign competition by taxing imports.
There’s no doubt that developing countries are stuck in a debt trap
impacted by protectionism, COVID-19 and socio-economic issues.
This debt trap continues to grow
as money is borrowed from first world countries through initiatives,
such as COVAX.
Suddenly, a non-third world problem became a Third World problem.
Can you afford to vaccine your citizens?
A quiet debt represents a systemic risk to the global economy,
according to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The economy of South Africa cannot keep up
with the competition when it comes to limited access to vaccines.
I believe that vaccine equity should be a human rights for all,
with no terms and conditions attached.
The virus impacts us all.
It does not care about your physiological, geographical or economic identity,
and this is what unifies us.
Yet when citizens don't have the house,
they cannot contribute to an international economy.
The ideology of globalization requires
countries to work together towards a common goal.
This is why alliances are formed,
such as the African Union and SADC.
The African Union and the African Centre for Disease Control have developed
a digital application called My COVID Pulse.
The ideology behind this app is so that we can ensure
safer border crossing across the continent.
It indicates who has been vaccinated and who hasn’t,
who has a medical history of COVID and who does not.
The app is powered by Econet,
a telecommunications group that has operations and investments
in Africa and around the world.
It is founded by Strive Masiyiwa,
one of Africa’s billionaires.
Does someone say African excellence?
But how does one strive for excellence when their health is at risk?
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is an idea in psychology that consists of
safety and needs, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualisation.
So where does South Africa belong on this pyramid?
Safety and needs?
That has been the reality of the country
twenty seven years into its democracy,
The safety and needs of African woman needs to be prioritized.
I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to work with an NGO
called International Women’s Forum South Africa.
They do various initiatives, including Young Leaders Connect,
of which I’m head of digital conversations.
Through that, we seek to develop the next generation of women leaders.
The time is now to mobilise women and to invest in the girl child in STEM,
which is science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Through this, we may achieve a redefined, post-pandemic globalised world.
There’s a saying that if you educate a man
you’re educating an individual.
Yet if you educate a woman, you're educating a nation.
Yes, with the pandemic, we have witnessed rich countries hoarding vaccines.
We have witnessed protectionism
and violence against women exasperated by COVID-19, including COVID-19 itself.
Yet what do we aspire to achieve?
The 2020s are the divine time
for a digital economy
through this vital witnessing remote work technology,
transforming change and the future will be defined by technology,
monetary and financial innovation.
There's an African proverb that states that if you want to go fast, you go alone.
Yes, if you want to go far, you go together.
And by now you’re probably asking yourself,
How do I get involved?
Well, you must be lucky today
because young leaders connect is always looking to develop
the next generation of women leaders.
All you need to do to qualify is be between the ages of 23 to 40 years old
and have an experience of one to 10 years in your field.
In closing, the pandemic has had an effect on globalisation.
And yes, together we are on a path to recovery.
But it is important and very vital to remember that no one is safe
until everyone is safe.
Thank you for listening.
I’m Zintle Ramano.