We are living in unprecedented times. What a year it has been. We began planning for this survey in the last quarter of 2019. At the time, COVID-19 was a distant phenomenon, happening somewhere else, in another continent. Before we knew it, and as we launched the survey in March 2020, most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa had implemented lockdown procedures. Travel, in some cases, within country was banned. In 24 hours, many businesses had to close operations to comply with the measures aimed at containing the pandemic. Very few businesses could have planned for this drastic scenario. Governments faced a delicate balancing act – prevent the explosion of a public health crisis and the possible implosion of our health systems or preserve the economy. Either way, it was not an easy choice.
