The COVID-19 pandemic imposed significant challenges to users of assistive technology (AT). Three key issues emerged from a series of structured qualitative interviews with 35 AT users in six low- and middle-income countries. These were (1) access to information about COVID-19 and available supports and policies, (2) insufficiency of the government response to meet the needs of AT users, and (3) the response of civil society which partially offset the gap in government response. AT users noted the need for better communication, improved planning for the delivery and maintenance of AT during times of crisis, and higher-quality standards to ensure the availability of appropriate technology.

In 2020, the African Network of Evidence to Action on Disability (also known as AFRINEAD) hosted its 10th conference in Cape Town. This paper synthesises inputs by the three authors as plenary addresses, particularly focusing on the challenges and opportunities of centring African voices in disability research. Our concern in this article is to engage with the question of exclusion as an issue not just in the everyday lives of people with disabilities but also in the world of ideas – the ideational space. We suggest that a reimagined disability study depends on the centring of African experiences, voices and knowledges. This is especially so as there are African concepts that are not rigorously pursued in research. African Renaissance thinking makes allowance not only for critically reflecting on the historical and contemporary constructs of disability but also for fashioning a higher civilisation in which people with disabilities can exist within society as worthy and valued human beings.