Paper short abstract:

This paper analyses the use of cash transfers for the social protection response to Covid-19 in sub-Saharan Africa. It discusses the nature of reforms triggered by the pandemic and argues that the pace and extent of cash transfer expansion in the region have lagged behind global expectations.

Paper long abstract:

Heeding the calls from the global community, virtually all sub-Saharan African governments introduced social protection measures to mitigate the socio-economic impact of Covid-19. Cash transfers made up a third of the pandemic response, consisting in horizontal and vertical expansions of existing programmes and the launch of new emergency transfers. In addition, mobile payment technologies experienced a significant boost during the early stages of the pandemic, compared to pre-Covid times. Experts and policy makers were quick to label the pandemic as a turning point in terms of cash transfer coverage and payment digitization, based on the initial emergency response. However, announced programme expansions were slow to materialize, and most temporary emergency transfers did not last beyond 2020. Similarly, mobile payments may have played a key role in the emergency response phase, but rarely translated into reforms to existing payment systems. This paper explores the extend and nature of the cash transfer response to Covid-19 in sub-Saharan Africa, based on data collected for a mapping of Covid-19 responses by the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth in 2020 and 2021, supplemented by additional research. It contrasts the immediate emergency response with sustained long-term reforms two years after the outbreak of the pandemic, and argues that the pace and extent of cash transfer reforms in the region have lagged behind global expectations.