The COVID-19 pandemic affected many people across the world and has been especially devastating for developing countries with a strong international tourism sector. Like many other African countries, one of the worst impacts for Namibia (which has had a recent increase in COVID-19 cases and related deaths) have been socio-economic, particularly in the tourism sector, which is one of the largest-earning industries in the country. Namibia expected 1.7 million international arrivals in 2020, which would have generated N$ 26.4 billion (or 11.7% of the GDP) in a sector that employs about 16.4% of its workforce. On 17 March 2020, President Hage Geingob declared a State of Emergency, and air travel to and from Qatar, Ethiopia, and Germany was suspended for 30 days. In Namibia and around the world, additional restrictions and lockdowns followed, and by 31 March more than one third of humanity was under some form of lockdown. This was the beginning of the end for most of the international travel to Namibia for the remainder of 2020, a situation that has persisted into 2021. When tourist arrivals came to a halt, a substantial amount of funding for conservation in Africa dried up, which led many concerned parties to predict massive increases in poaching linked to dwindling local support for wildlife conservation. In Namibia, the communal conservancies were in dire straits as their income from tourism that used to be spent on conservation and development was abruptly cut off.