AFRICA’S GOVERNANCE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 | PRELIMINARY REPORT 2020
ranging and vast experience in managing infectious
disease outbreaks and epidemics.
AU Bureau inter alia decided to establish an
African Coronavirus Fund to which the AU Bureau
immediately contributed 12.5 million USD as
seed funding. The private sector including African
banks have also signed up to the fund, with
pledges amounting to US$ 61 million dollars as
of 29 April 2020. An advisory board consisting
of public and private sector representatives has
been established to oversee management of the
Fund, together with an experts’ panel (special
envoys), composed of committed African
personalities with experience in fund-raising.
b. Centralised Provision of Technical Support
Second, Africa CDC has provided important
technical expertise and support to African countries
as part of Africa Joint Continental Strategy for
COVID-19 outbreak through the Africa Task Force
for Coronavirus (AFTCOR) in six technical areas:
surveillance, including screening at points-of-entry;
infection prevention and control in healthcare
facilities; clinical management of persons with
severe COVID-19 infection; laboratory diagnosis
and subtyping; risk communications; and supply
chain and stockpiling. Another important area
has been the expansion of laboratories testing
capacities for COVID-19. According to the WHO,
only two countries had laboratories that could test
for COVID-19 at the beginning of the outbreak
(January 2020). Today, 48 African countries have
such laboratories. Africa CDC with the WHO have
led the expansion of testing capacities across the
continent by providing testing kits and training
health workers. Commendably Africa CDC plans
to scale up testing capacity on the continent to
ensure that at least 10 million tests are conducted
in the next four months through the AU Partnership
for Accelerated COVID-19 Testing Initiative (PACT)
.
c. Multilateral Approach to Resource
Mobilisation
Third and critical for effective implementation,
the African continental joint response in fighting
COVID-19 pandemic has been the resources
mobilisation. Early in March, the current AU
Chair, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa,
convened a virtual meeting of the AU Bureau of
Heads of State, which in addition to South Africa
currently comprises Mali, Kenya, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, and Egypt. The heads of
state were joined by the chairperson of the AU
Commission and the director of Africa CDC. The
Africa’s joint response to COVID-19 has also been
orchestrated within the coordinated efforts of RECs
Accordingly, on 29 April 2020, a teleconference
meeting of the AU Bureau of Heads of State and
Government was held with the heads of state,
chairpersons of the AU RECs with the purpose of
apprising the chairpersons of the RECs of the AU
about the actions and initiatives undertaken by the
AU in response to the spread of the coronavirus
pandemic on the continent. The Meeting also
provided a platform for the Chairpersons of the
RECs to brief the Bureau about regional measures
taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At
the meeting, the heads of state and government
endorsed the call for debt cancellation and the
implementation of a comprehensive relief package
for African countries in response to COVID-19. The
heads of state and government reaffirmed their
solidarity with Sudan and Zimbabwe and called
for the lifting of sanctions against these countries
in order to provide these fraternal republics the
fiscal space to focus their resources and efforts in
combatting the spread of COVID 19.
8 Communique of the Teleconference Meeting of the
Bureau of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) Heads
of State and Government with Chairpersons of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) of the African
Union held on 29 April 2020
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