Solidarity, cooperation are powerful pillars in fight against COVID-19 – KBC

A meeting of considerable significance bringing together top Chinese leadership and African heads of states and governments is set to take place this week.

The virtual meeting to be hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and scheduled for Wednesday will be dominated by talks over COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting is expected to provide another platform for the Chinese leader to announce further actions by his administration to aid the continent in its war against the pandemic and other post-COVID-19 interventions.

On the other hand, it is envisaged that the African leaders will issue an update on regional measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of utmost importance is the fact that the deliberations between the two sides will largely border on discussions over joint actions to combat the spread of the coronavirus while mitigating its socio-economic impact on the continent.

It will be remembered that President Xi has already raised issues surrounding the continent at an international stage.

During the World Health Assembly meeting last month, Xi spoke of the need to aid Africa especially in areas of relief, financial support, and medical assistance.

In the last few days, numerous concerns have been raised by a number of African heads of state and governments especially on the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the continent.

The meeting is worthy of attention given that China is currently the biggest development financier to many African countries.

African leaders have not hidden the fact that their economies have been pushed to the edge.

Majority in the continent is worried that as the crisis precipitates, economies will be hit hard by the recession and may not be in a position to honour their debt obligations.

This state of affairs has prompted calls for support from the Africa Union, amid another push for debt relief or debt cancellation to ease the burden brought by the pandemic.

Indeed, a number of African leaders have been quoted saying that their countries were facing a dilemma between paying debts and attending to the sick, both of which are at a huge cost.

Amid the economic turmoil, Africa is alive to the fact that it first and foremost needs to sort out the health crisis posed by the pandemic.

Due to fragile health systems, COVID-19 has presented the continent with a challenge, far greater than any other in its recent history.

Compared to the developed world, Africa is at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to combating the COVID-19 virus.

Statistically, the reported cases of COVID-19 in the continent have been much lower than earlier projected. But this is due, in part, to mass testing that is yet to be done at a level required. The actual number of cases could be higher. This has by and large been a consequence of widespread shortage of testing materials.

The director of the Africa Centre for Disease Control John Nkengasong also admitted recently that getting diagnostics and medical equipment for Covid-19 response is a huge challenge.

Without the necessary personal protective equipment for health workers, ventilators for the critically ill and adequate testing kits, COVID-19 will pose a massive threat to the future of many African countries.

This is why it was a huge relief when China started sending both the logistic and human resource support to a number of African countries to aid the fight against the deadly contagion.

Since the outbreak, China has been increasingly sharing its experiences with Africa, thereby lending a timely hand.  So far, China has provided batches of testing kits, and sped up its offer of medical supplies such as masks and protective suits.

Chinese medical experts have held video conferences with a good number of African countries while sharing expertise on anti-epidemic experiences with African medical experts.

Through these headline-grabbing initiatives, China has demonstrated a willingness to help the continent. However much this help is viewed suspiciously by critics, all must appreciate that actions speak louder than words.

The support to Africa has been done under the stewardship of President Xi Jinping whose policies have largely been aided by the ruling communist party CPC.  Xi is adamant that “solidarity and cooperation is our most powerful weapon for defeating the virus.”

While addressing a recent G20 summit, President Xi expressed concern about the state of poor countries. He said China will establish a cooperation mechanism for its hospitals to pair up with 30 African hospitals and accelerate the building of the Africa CDC headquarters to help the continent ramp up its disease preparedness and control capacity.

In the wake of major economic crisis resulting from COVID-19, Xi said his administration will work with other G20 members to implement the Debt Service Suspension Initiative for the poorest countries.

Amid the grim economic outlook in African countries hardest-hit by the outbreak, Xi says China will bolster support for nations under the greatest strain of debt service so that they could tide over the current difficulties.

The virtual meeting with African leaders is therefore seen as another opportunity to look into issues at hand precisely by shining a spotlight into country-specific interventions.