Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis affecting everyone. Yet, its challenges and countermeasures vary significantly over time and space. Individual experiences of the pandemic are highly heterogeneous and its impacts span and interlink multiple dimensions, such as health, economic, social and political impacts. Therefore, there is a need to disaggregate “the pandemic”, analysing experiences, behaviours and impacts at the micro level and from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Such analyses require multi-topic pan-national survey data that are collected continuously and can be matched with other datasets, such as disease statistics or information on countermeasures. In my talk, I will introduce a new dataset that overcomes existing limitations – the Life with Corona – Africa phone survey – and present analyses on how the pandemic and its countermeasures shape lives and societies over time across four African countries. Particular emphasis will be placed on the impacts of the pandemic (and its countermeasures) on public health and social measures; food security; negative coping strategies during lockdown; food security and mental health; and the role of public leadership.