The African Development Bank’s Board of Directors on Wednesday approved $27.33m in grants to boost the African Union’s efforts to mobilize a continental response to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
The approval follows a meeting of the extended Bureau of the Conference of Heads of State and Government with Africa’s private sector on 22 April 2020, chaired by South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, and chairperson of the AU, at which AfDB’s President, Akinwumi Adesina, pledged strong support for the AU’s COVID-19 initiative.
The AU bureau meeting called for contributions to the COVID-19 Response Fund established by the AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, in March 2020.
Speaking after the board’s approval of the operation, Adesina said, “With this financing package, we are reaffirming our strong commitment to a coordinated African response in the face of COVID-19. Most important, we are sending a strong signal that collectively, the continent can address the pandemic, which is straining health systems and causing unprecedented socio-economic impacts on the continent.”
AfDB’s grant financing will support the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in providing technical assistance and building capacity for 37 African Development Fund eligible countries, particularly the transition states, to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate its impact.
The ADF is AfDB’s concessional window.
Sourced from the ADF’s Regional Operations/Regional Public Goods envelope and the Transition Support Facility, the two grants will support the implementation of Africa CDC’s COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness and Response Plan through strengthening surveillance at various points of entry (air, sea, and land) in African countries; building sub-regional and national capacity for epidemiological surveillance; and ensuring the availability of testing materials and personal protective equipment for frontline workers deployed in hotspots.
The operation will also facilitate collection of gender-disaggregated data and adequate staffing for Africa CDC’s emergency operations centre.
