African and indeed global economies continue to reel from the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic. Even for the most experienced CEOs, the onset of the pandemic proved to be their first baptism by fire; it presented an unprecedented leadership challenge. It has been a delicate balancing act, with the CEOs protecting the lives of their employees and various stakeholders, while at the same time focusing on business continuity.

In an article published in the Foresight Africa 2021 Report, Ashish Thakar, CEO, Mara Phones, argues that now, more than ever, Africa needs sustainable long-term strategies, and we need to start by assessing the priority areas of focus and initiating a shared sustainable economic recovery plan.

“The African continent has an opportunity to build sustainable value chains by adopting strategies that demonstrate certainty, stability, and ease of doing business”, he writes.

To become more relevant in the global value chain, Africa’s post-pandemic opportunities and strategies need to advance a number of priorities, chief among them being reconfiguration of global value chains. It is noteworthy that the COVID-19 pandemic revealed to the world the risks associated with overly relying on a few global economic regions for the supply of goods and services.

This revelation has presented an opportunity for Africa to recalibrate and achieve its ambitions of being self-sufficient by identifying trade opportunities—essentially becoming both the users and suppliers of goods and services. Indeed, Africa must move away from overly relying on imports and focus on supporting locally produced products in order to retain profits and support job creation and economy-building initiatives.

Equally important is collaboration between regions. Thakar argues that weakened global economic growth will have an impact on trade with and within Africa, further providing the region with the opportunity to collaborate and leverage its scale and efficiency by both rethinking the fundamentals of partnerships among African countries and speeding up the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.

“The facilitation of trade between African countries through policy harmonization will boost commerce and social reform by increasing the competitiveness of African products and services and creating global export opportunities and new export markets within the continent”, he asserts.

There is also need for increased digitalization. According to Thakar, African countries that can galvanize their efforts towards digital resources will be better placed to attract investments and position themselves as future economic world leaders. African leaders need to refocus the energy and the urgency that have arisen from COVID-19 to rethink digital infrastructure, therefore avoiding further exclusion from the global economic value chain. Part of the COVID-19 recovery strategy must pivot towards infrastructure, as it will enable Africa to be self-sufficient.

While sharing his experience in coping with the pandemic Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa explains that in times of crisis, it is important to lead with purpose and follow your intuition when making decisions.

“Tap into your previous experiences and do not wait for all the facts to guide you as they will not always be there”, he says in an article published on his LinkedIn page under the title “Transition amidst a crisis.

Ndegwa also emphasizes on the power of partnerships. “We worry too much about competition when there is so much more power when we collaborate. COVID19 forced us to come together and collaborate on matters that benefit society as a whole, and I think we should definitely do this more often”.

“As we navigate through this pandemic, the role of leaders has changed in this new world of working from home and virtual meetings. Keeping connected while we are apart is an even bigger imperative as we ensure that business continues as usual. It is ok not to know everything but lead with empathy and have the courage to deal with situations as they occur”.

For female CEOs, there has been an additional challenge of choosing between their jobs and their families. According to Lidia Solomon, founder and CEO of LSSYA, a tech company in Ethiopia, “schools are shut, but there are still companies that require employees to come to work…mothers have to worry about where to leave their children.”

The situation is exacerbated by the gender gap in access to technology. Lidia argues that access to technology is key to coping with the crisis.

“Women CEOs entrepreneurs need to increase their technological capacity to cope with the current situation”, says Blandine Umuziranenge, the founder and CEO of Kosmotive, a Rwandan start-up providing information, health-care services and feminine products. “We were not ready for social distancing.”

The fact that all CEOs are currently facing a challenge cannot be gainsaid. What matters is how they turn it around. They can see it as a risk and focus only on minimizing damage, or they can treat it as an opportunity, devoting every effort to maximizing the value creation in their companies.

As Dalai Lama once said, “Whenever there is a challenge, there is also an opportunity to face it, to demonstrate and develop our will and determination.”