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International commerce across southern Africa has increased significantly in recent years. This phenomenon has been replicating what has been happening on the African continent as a whole, and it does indicate that the region has significant growth in economic opportunities. Hence, the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted international commerce and caused significant concern. The emphasis of this work was on the global economic interconnectivity in the Southern African region prior to and during the Covid-19 pandemic. The main objective of this study was to determine how the Covid-19 pandemic influenced international commerce in Southern Africa. The study was qualitative in nature, as well as secondary data collection methods were used. The research used a documentary review as its analysis method. This included compiling and analysing more than 60 online resources relating to various and relevant the Covid-19 pandemic and international commerce from several past research. The study found that the world economy, particularly the economies of Southern African nations, was encountering certain difficulties before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was stated that as a consequence of the pandemic, Southern African countries implemented a slew of steps in an effort to overcome the issues posed by the Covid-19 pandemic interruptions.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a new phase of company operations. The advent of digital transformation (DT) has fundamentally transformed the global business landscape. Despite the global prevalence of this phenomenon, there is limited understanding of digital transformation (DT) in the context of COVID-19 and its impact on private sector organizations in developing nations. This study investigates the impact of COVID-19 on the process of digital transformation in privately owned companies located in underdeveloped nations. To accomplish this objective, a systematic literature review was conducted following the PRISMA (2020) principles, resulting in a selection of 26 studies. This study employs an inductive methodology, where pertinent topics are identified as they arise from the literature throughout the analysis stage. The technology-organization-environment framework (TOE) was subsequently employed to provide a contextual framework for these issues. The research findings suggest that the presence of resources, both financial and technological, is a crucial determinant in the adoption of digital transformation. The adoption of DT has been significantly influenced by various factors, including the role of governments, competitive forces, security, and other relevant considerations. Although organizations in underdeveloped nations encountered numerous hurdles, it was found that digital transformation progressed rapidly in all areas. Companies underwent substantial transformations to embrace digital transformation (DT), including the use of digital business models to facilitate remote operations and heightened investment in education, skills, and innovative digital tactics. Given the recent emergence of COVID-19, there remain numerous uncertainties regarding the enduring impacts that COVID-19 has had on organizations.

The paper’s objective was to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 and South Africa financial stock markets. The pandemic worsened South Africa's unstable financial condition and societal problems: business was severely disrupted, as were the travel industry, hospitality, food security, small businesses, and many other sectors. The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic triggered high and longer-lasting financial volatility in the markets. The higher level of volatility persistence suggests a prolonged period of increased uncertainty. Overall, the uncertainty about the vaccine's effectiveness towards the pandemic provides low expectations about the future of the stock market, since there are variants that are still being discovered.