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Various countries experience challenges at different times. The challenges have historically been of demographic, economic, political, social, and technological nature but influenced by globalisation. In response to these challenges, governments design and implement different reforms involving resource allocation and delivery mechanisms. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a unique challenge. Some countries intervened with various stimulus packages to save economies and other sectors, but not much in the higher education sector. Teaching and learning had to transition from the traditional face-to-face between learners and teachers in one room at the same time to online. Although literature is still relatively scanty on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education and other sectors, there may be consensus that it affected almost all aspects of human life. Preventing the spread of COVID-19 was a challenge globally. This chapter analyses the reforms in higher education occasioned by COVID-19 in Eswatini.

COVID-19 was first reported in China's Wuhan city of Hubei province in late 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a global public health emergency and a global pandemic respectively in quick succession as it spread so fast across the world. In this chapter, the authors analyze its effects on Zambia by focusing on among others, the economy, education, family interactions, culture, and psychosocial wellbeing of Zambia and how the government responded to minimize the effects. They find that preventive measures were not fully adhered to in many places partly because the government did not enforce a total lockdown as many other countries did although learning institutions, drinking places, church gatherings, funeral processions, and other social gatherings such as weddings were all suspended. They note that government responses to the pandemic preserved lives but also worsened the economic slowdown. They conclude that the pandemic exposed the deficiencies in the healthcare and social protection systems and inequality in the country but enhanced digitalization.

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