The Covid-19 pandemic took us all unawares, inflicting severe damage on the global economy and killing millions of people. We now have better tools and knowledge to manage the virus as an endemic disease, in a sustainable way — with highly effective vaccines and, soon, easy-to-administer treatment. But the fallout from the pandemic is significant. And, due to disparities in countries’ responses during and after the pandemic, the longterm repercussions will turn out to be equally unexpected.
The pandemic has, without doubt, given businesses — big and small — a much greater appreciation of the digital economy. It will spur new investments and hasten digital transformation, and the resulting advancements in technology will have long-lasting, negative implications for developing countries.
We have alluded to this in previous articles. This week, we will bring together all the pieces and present what we think is a picture of the future. We foresee increased technology-driven investments, reshoring and capital flows into developed markets (DMs), leading to higher growth potential and job creation — at the expense of emerging markets (EMs). It will be, to a certain degree, a reversal of globalisation and the flow of trade of the past three decades.
