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Africa’s battle against COVID-19 is not just a picture of death, suffering and economic devastation.
It is, most convincingly, a picture of partnership, the sharing of strategies and resources, and resilience and innovation, at the individual, national and regional level, in a continent that is steadily increasing even in the face of an existential challenge to vulnerability. biomedical of All human beings.
This has been the awe-inspiring backdrop to South Africa’s one-year term as President of the African Union.
South Africa’s presidency of the African Union (AU) in 2020 has been adversely affected by the unprecedented advent of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic around the world, causing some of the planned priorities for the continent were suspended.
Although the AU theme for 2020 is “Silencing the Guns: Creating Conditions for Africa’s Development”, the focus to date has been primarily “silencing” an invisible and resilient organism that has claimed thousands of lives across the world.
When South Africa assumed the presidency of the AU in February 2020, COVID-19 was rapidly spreading around the world, with the first positive case of COVID-19 in Africa reported in Egypt.
The subsequent declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization required a refocused agenda for the Presidency of South Africa.
The pandemic negatively affected most of the AU’s plans, and physical meetings or summits were postponed after most AU member states imposed travel restrictions and national closures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Among other changes, a summit on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) that was scheduled to take place in South Africa earlier this year has been postponed until December 5, 2020.
This summit is expected to finalize some of the outstanding trade-related issues under the AfCFTA agreement, which seeks to create a single continental market for goods and services in Africa and allow freer movement of people across the continent.
As a result of the postponement, trading under this agreement will now begin on January 1, 2021.
The AfCFTA creates a single continental market for goods and services in Africa and presents an opportunity for African countries to diversify their exports, attract foreign direct investment and grow their respective economies. This agreement will be key to unlocking the economic potential of Africa.
It will also promote domestic trade and reduce dependence on foreign trade. The goal of increasing intra-African trade from 18% to 50% in a decade is critical to helping the continent rebuild the economies devastated by COVID-19.
In his Declaration of Acceptance on February 9 as President of the AU, President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “The AfCFTA that we adopted last year will allow us to work together through intra-African trade as it will reignite industrialization and pave the way for integration of Africa into the global economy as an actor of considerable scale.
“It is the realization of the dream of our ancestors, to see how the rich resources of Africa are mobilized for the collective benefit of Africans.”
Subsequently, COVID-19 has challenged the continent to ensure that in our fight against the coronavirus disease, we do indeed guarantee collective benefits for all Africans.
As rates of COVID-19 infections continue to decline globally, Africa has thankfully recorded lower rates of infections and has successfully reduced the spread of the virus.
The director of the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. John Nkengasong, has attributed Africa’s recovery rate of 72 percent to strong promotion of health protocols such as wearing masks in public, social distancing and regular hand washing.
While it is still too early to celebrate such a remarkable milestone, he says the continent is beginning to “bend the curve” of infections.
However, Africa is cautiously aware of the fact that some of the countries that slowed down the curve have had new spikes in infections.
While many parts of the world are learning how to deal with a pandemic, Africa has also learned significant lessons from dealing with outbreaks such as Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome, and yellow fever.
These lessons have played a key role in how the continent responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. African countries were forced to take urgent action to respond to the unforeseen circumstances caused by the pandemic.
As president of the AU, South Africa has been working tirelessly with relevant AU structures to channel efforts towards containing the spread of the virus, while continuing to meet the goal of creating a peaceful and stable continent.
The AU member countries have come together to achieve a pandemic-free continent and support the mission of establishing a peaceful and prosperous continent.
Several virtual meetings have been held with African Heads of State to find ways to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
These meetings have resulted in the development of the Africa Joint Continental Strategy for COVID-19, which established an AU COVID-19 Response Fund to help Member States fund an effective response.
International support
In his capacity as president of the AU, President Ramaphosa has appointed special envoys to request international support that will enable African countries to respond adequately and quickly to the challenges caused by the pandemic.
To date, international institutions such as the G20 and the European Union have provided monetary support to Africa’s Joint Continental Strategy for COVID-19 for a comprehensive economic stimulus for Africa.
Since then, these Special Envoys have managed to negotiate with the international community to provide debt relief and debt relief for the poorest countries in Africa to fight COVID-19. By September 2020, nine African countries had requested a moratorium on debt repayment.
In August 2020, the AU launched the Africa Medical Supplies Platform, an innovation that will allow all countries on the continent to acquire the most needed supplies more quickly at more competitive prices.
This platform will also help with price competition and reduce costs. All countries will have equal access to products made in Africa, including medical supplies.
President Ramaphosa and other African leaders have demonstrated the continent’s resilience and flexibility to rise up against the devastating impact of COVID-19.
South Africa will continue to work with other African countries to strengthen efforts to respond quickly to all challenges and intensify efforts to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous Africa.
