Several African nations responded quickly to COVID-19. But as they start to open back up, the music industry is hardly secure Thanks to tough measures that included overnight curfews and restricted travel between provinces, health authorities were hopeful that African countries could avoid the worst of the coronavirus outbreaks that have ravaged Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
As of May 28, Nigeria and South Africa — two of the continent’s largest music economies — had 254 deaths and 552 deaths, respectively, according to the World Health Organization.
Amid initially slowly rising numbers of cases, both countries relaxed restrictions in early May, allowing some stores and shops to reopen.