AFRICA’S GOVERNANCE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 | PRELIMINARY REPORT 2020
3.2 Sub- Regional Level Response
The AU is comprised of eight RECs,) recognised
as the building blocks of the African Economic
Community, which was established in 1991 under
the Abuja Treaty and provides the overarching
framework for continental economic integration.
These are: The Arab Maghreb Union (UMA); the
Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS); the East African Community (EAC);
the Intergovernmental Authority on Development
(IGAD); the Common Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa (COMESA); the Southern
African Development Community (SADC), the
Economic Community of Central African States
(ECCAS), and the Community of Sahel Saharan
States (CEN-SAD). These RECs are not only key
building blocks for economic integration, but
they are also implementing arms of the AU.
Accordingly, the RECs are an indispensable and
pivotal institutional mechanism for the regional
governance response to COVID-19 in Africa.
for their members, while others have disseminated
information on COVID-19 and developed policy
response options for their member states. The
regional governance responses have varied based
on the differences in mandates of the RECs. These
responses fall into three categories – the political
(summits of heads of state and government),
the public health (through coordinated efforts of
ministers of health), and the economic (regional
measures adopted to facilitate the flow of goods and
services related to the fight against the pandemic).
Table 2 illustrates the RECs’ governance response
to Covid-19 across the following four areas:
a) Convening: Did the REC hold meetings bringing
together its member states?
b) Coordination: Does the RECs have a centrally
coordinated strategy and response?
c) Communication: Has the REC set guidelines
for and called for implementation of awareness
programmes?
d) Solidarity: Has the REC established a fund, supply
of human resource such as medical professionals,
etc?
e) International Outreach: Did the REC engage
with international partners?
Since the declaration of the pandemic in January
2020, RECs across all five regions have responded
differently to the fight against COVID-19. As Table
2 shows, some have held regional meetings for
coordination, developed strategies and set standards
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