AFRICA’S GOVERNANCE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 | PRELIMINARY REPORT 2020 response to the pandemic in state-owned enterprises and the private sector. Most African countries that have been reviewed by APRM are yet to develop frameworks to guide responsible business conduct and corporate social responsibility in the context of COVID-19 there is no continental framework to guide the. Further, COVID-19 and the resultant containment measures have also created major disruptions to businesses and have resulted in the large-scale shutdown of economic activity. Responsible business conduct as well as the role of the private sector in Africa to contribute towards the response to COVID-19 on the continent remains a pivotal focus of corporate governance in Africa. Currently, 1.7 Gendered Governance Response Whilst responses to pandemics, particularly COVID-19, have been widely discussed, the gendered dynamics and impact, remain inadequately explored4. Gender dimensions are The intersection between gender and governance is important vis-à-vis i) the decision-making processes and the likely impact of not giving consideration to gender assumptions and dynamics; ii) the incorporation of a gendered perspective in establishing governance mechanisms for disaster preparedness and response to pandemics; iii) and the use of a inform policy and the epistemic assumptions on gendered lens to governance. socially, economically, politically and physically constructed and motivated.5 Considering how the African continent dealt with pandemic outbreaks such as the Ebola and Zika viruses, there is great necessity to rethink the governance-gender nexus pertaining to the response of countries to current and future pandemics. 3 https://savannanews.com/burundi-election-observ- 5 Julia Smith (2019) Overcoming the ‘tyranny of the ers-quarantied-for-14-days-11-days-from-election/ urgent’: integrating gender into disease outbreak preparedness and response, Gender & Development, 27:2,355-369, DOI: 10.1080/13552074.2019.1615288 4 Harman, Sophie (2016) ‘Ebola, gender and con- spicuously invisible women in global health governance’, Third World Quarterly 37(3): 524–41 doi: 10.1080/01436597.2015.1108827. 30