African Leaders Urge Private Sector to Partake in Continental Fight against COVID-19

MFAE
April 22, 2020

Prime Minister H.E. Abiy Ahmed today (April 22) participated in the virtual meeting of the African Union Extended Bureau of Heads of State convened by South African President H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, the Chair of the African Union for 2020, to discuss the role of the private sector in the AU-led continental fight against the COVID-19 scourge.

The meeting brought together Heads of State and Government of DRC, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Chairperson of the African Union Commission and members of the African Business Leaders Coalition.

Prime Minister Abiy related on his Tweeter page the commendable commitment of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB_Group), African Export-Import Bank and other private stakeholders to contribute to the Africa COVID-19 fund and the Africa Center for Disease Control (Africa CDC).

“Strengthening the Africa Center for Disease Control and enhancing our testing capacity as a continent is key,” Abiy added.

Chairperson of the African Union Commission H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, in Tweeting about the teleconference, said: ”The enthusiasm by the African private sector to partner in the Partnership to Accelerate COVID19 Testing Initiative (PACT) was encouraging as we discussed how they could harness their logistics, private laboratories, manufacturing capacity to support the continental strategy.”

The African Union will facilitate a platform for the African private sector to share experiences of how they have been able to adapt in these trying times of the COVID19 pandemic, the Chairperson added.