“We now export more to China than to the US. We send 9% of our exports to China, and just 5% to the US. So our focus now is to find ways of increasing exports to China even more. A key opportunity here lies in China’s Dual Circulation recovery plan, whereby they hope to expand domestic consumption.”
“Local media have generally avoided politicizing the COVID-19 vaccines and have played an important role in sensitizing the public about COVID-19 and the importance of vaccines. Yet, earlier this month, The Guardian, a widely read newspaper in Nigeria, published an article that questions the safety of the SinoPharm vaccine, which will likely cause distrust of Chinese-made vaccines.”
“Africa’s COVID-19 experience was poorly predicted by many, and while there has been suffering on the continent, the relatively less cases and deaths have been a major relief, especially in the context of challenges faced by many of Africa’s traditional development partners in mobilizing significant support to other countries.”
“These are not indications of a helpless continent. They are indications of competence and decisiveness, held back by low financial capacity and low local manufacturing capability.”
“The good news on vaccines is that a month ago, only 8 countries had put aside finance to ordering vaccines. Today, 21 countries have pre-ordered vaccines, and we know for most of those countries how much they are ordering and from whom.”
“African countries are spending around 2.5% of GDP to combat COVID-19’s impacts. While this is this is significantly below spending by other regions, set against this is a prevailing narrative that African countries owe huge debts to China, and this is impairing African countries’ abilities to address COVID-19, or indeed, to continue to function in a stable way.”
“News of potential new vaccines to stop the spread of COVID-19 have dominated headlines. While these are limited, preliminary trials, the response has been huge excitement twinned with concern about the poorest people and countries in the world, who may not get early access to these drugs if they are developed as quickly as these trial results suggest.”
“This week, private sector lenders rejected Zambia’s request for a payment holiday, and by doing so fuelled concerns that ‘Africa’ would be falling into a debt crisis.This kind of action and speculation is highly problematic. Not only does it label Africa’s 55 countries as one, it also appears to be based on information that is contrary to data and cannot be rationally explained.”
“As African governments and citizens learn how to cope with COVID-19, experience suggests they will not have equal access to tests and vaccines as others.”
“When compared to the economies of the G20 and the multilateral banks’ capital bases, the US$68 billion needed for Africa is insignificant. But it could save hundreds of lives. The time is now for stronger and prolonged action by the international community.”
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