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Seeks debt relief for Africa
BY CHINYERE OBIORA, LAGOS – The President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina says it is unacceptable that the continent cannot produce COVID-19 to cater for its teeming population.
He said depending on foreign freebies in these terrifying times is a great disservice to the huge potentials available in Africa that should be harnessed urgently for the necessary breakthroughs in healthcare and medical science.
Adsina said; “I can’t accept that 1.4 billion people have to be running from pillar to post looking for vaccines. We ought to be producing vaccines in Africa.
“We at the African Development Bank have therefore decided that we’re going to support Africa to have quality health care infrastructure and also make sure that it develops its own pharmaceutical capacity”,
This is as he also insisted that African countries deserves urgent debt relief with the continent currently reeling from the debilitating effects of coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking in an interview on CNN’s First Move with Julia Chatterley, Adesina also expressed worries the Bank’s economic outlook indicate that without additional aid, about 39 million Africans risk falling into extreme poverty this year.
“Africa is not looking for a free pass. We’re just looking for a way in which Africa’s fiscal space gets dealt with”, he said.
Adesina, who described the figures as quite disturbing, noted that; “The GDP of Africa went down by $175 billion. Last year, we had 30 million people went into extreme poverty. This year if that trend continues, 39 million people going into extreme poverty, hunger and all of that.”
He said though the economic outlook was not all bad news, expected positives will rely mainly on access to vaccinations.
According to the AfDB boss; “We project that Africa will grow back. The projection is 3.4 per cent grow back this year. But all of that is conditional on two things, one is access to vaccines; and secondly the issue of debt.
“I think that’s important to improve Africa’s access to vaccines. We need to have vaccine solidarity. COVAX is doing a great job, but the amounts are still minuscule as far as we are concerned.”
He also stressed the need for global cooperation to end the pandemic, insisting that; “If we deal with this pandemic in one part of the world, and we don’t deal with other parts of the world, we’re all going back to square one.
“We’ve never seen anything like this before. We projected last year -2.1 per cent, that is the lowest growth rate in 50 years in Africa. You don’t see the virus, but its effects are just so mind boggling. The GDP of Africa went down by $175 billion.
“Last year, we had 30 million people that went into extreme poverty. This year if that trend continues, 39 million people going into extreme poverty, hunger and all of that, it’s been just quite a lot”, he said
