News & Analysis: China-Africa relations
“Our collective failure to end the pandemic now will create and compound even deeper and more costly problems in the future. The immediate knock-on effects, including for the West, will be severe. But this historic failure of multilateralism is also undermining the trust and incentives necessary for effective international cooperation on the other existential challenges of the day – most notably, climate change.”
“A number of Chinese pharmaceutical companies have developed COVID-19 vaccines which have been distributed domestically, as well as sold and donated overseas. But recent data show that China’s involvement in Africa’s vaccine programs, through donations and sales, has been the slowest among all regions where its vaccines are in use.”
“Better disclosure of the terms of the contracts themselves would certainly be better practice going forward, and in times of stress, it can facilitate quicker and easier engagement with the key multilateral actors.”
“Botswana has been battling a surge of cases which earlier this month forced the government to extend a state of public emergency by a further six months to curb the spread of the virus.”
Africa has been identified as a battleground for vaccine diplomacy, where after receiving limited vaccines from western suppliers, countries have recently increasingly looked to China and Russia to bolster inoculation supplies. Feminist human rights practitioner, Mandipa Machacha weighs in on whether this all is a help or a hindrance to the continent.
“Two agreements have been signed between the Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines, and the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech for biopharmaceuticals, to manufacture the coronavirus vaccine in Egypt.”
“Cameroon has received a donation of 200,000 doses of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine, Sinopharm, after it suspended the approval of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines over safety concerns.”
“Health care workers in Cameroon say they are reluctant to take the coronavirus vaccines donated by China because they doubt the drug’s efficacy. On Sunday, 200,000 Sinopharm doses arrived in Cameroon’s capital. Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute accepted the vaccine donation on behalf of President Paul Biya at Yaounde’s international airport, in a ceremony that was broadcast live on state radio and television.”
“No serious debt sustainability analysis, and indeed no pre-emptive re-profiling of external debt, is possible without transparency concerning loan agreements,” writes Prof. Danny Leipziger.
“Despite the huge demand for vaccines at home, we are doing our best to support Zimbabwe’s fight against COVID-19 because we are all-weather friends and we keep our promise to ensure the accessibility and affordability of the vaccines, particularly for developing countries.”
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