Research report on the ongoing effects of the pandemic on respondents’ finances, spending, and health, their thoughts and concerns about the vaccine, and their hopes for the future.
After living with the pandemic for more than a year, many questions and uncertainties remain. As a follow up to GeoPoll’s 2020 reports on the impact of COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa, GeoPoll conducted a survey to assess the ongoing effects of the pandemic on respondents’ finances, spending, and health, their thoughts and concerns about the vaccine, and their hopes for the future. This report details the results from that survey.
The study was conducted in March 2021 in Côte D’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa. The main topics covered include:
- Changes to consumer finances, spending, and mobile money usage
- Perceptions about the government response to the virus and the trustworthiness of information available
- Anticipation about the availability and willingness to take the vaccine
- Adherence to public health measures and changes to mental and physical health
Findings from this study illustrate the ongoing disruption of COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa. Incomes and spending continue to fall since our study in November 2020, while prices have risen. The percentage likely to take the vaccine if it was available has decreased since November, as has optimism about when that might be. Despite these hardships, several positive trends surfaced in this study, including improvements in emotional and physical health.
