Proudly SA: Coronavirus exposes market vulnerabilities but reveals opportunities

JOHANNESBURG – Aside from the obvious health impact of the coronavirus, the spread of the pandemic has exposed market vulnerabilities as the powerful and influential Chinese economy has been all but shut down.

China is a critical cog in the mechanism of the global economy as both a consumer and producer of a vast range of commodities.

In South Africa we are acutely aware of the reach of its exports, as many of our own domestic industries have suffered from the flood of mostly cheap imports from that country.

While massive and extensive business closures and the restriction of movement imposed on the Chinese have been credited with helping contain the coronavirus, the world must wake up in this era of mass mobility to the potential threat that pandemics pose.

Similarly, ecological and natural disasters which seem to occur with frightening and increasing frequency, can shut a country or parts of a country down. These include weather (blizzards, tornadoes, hurricanes etc) and non-weather-related disasters (including earthquakes and mud slides for example) where infrastructure and utilities are destroyed, stalling economies in the process.