African leaders have lamented the lack of a coordinated global response and cooperation to the coronavirus outbreak.
The delegates who recently attended the African Presidential Leadership Centre’s virtual summit agreed that a coordinated global cooperation could have somehow softened the virus’ blow.
“When you look at the success that we have had in dealing with SARS, swine flu and even Ebola – you will see that we were able to deal with these successfully because there was immediate cooperation and immediate conversations about an international strategy and it made things simple,” says the Chairman of the African Presidential Leadership Centre, Charles Stith, in an interview with SABC News anchor, Peter Ndoro.
He says nationalistic strategies to deal with COVID-19 are problematic, especially since the world’s economies are interdependent.
Stith says the summit endorsed the World Bank’s view that African countries need to make decisions on the pandemic based on their circumstance.
“So much of economies of countries in Africa are based on the informal economy. And these are people that have to get up, every day – go out on the pavement and make something happen because if they don’t work; they don’t get paid and if they don’t get paid they don’t eat. You can’t get a good health outcome when you are creating poor people,” he adds.
The full interview is in the video below:
It has been 14 months now since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Africa.
So far, the continent has reported 4 574 042 COVID-19 infections and 122 329 fatalities.
Though Egypt recorded the first infection, the virus’ deadly consequences have spared no nation, affecting not just the health of millions on the continent but its economies and life in general.
Vaccine rollouts are underway and lockdowns have been easing as the continent, like the rest of the world, slowly begins the journey to recovery.
