AfDB approves €45M in Covid-19 aid for Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar and Sao Tome and Principe

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AfDB approves €45M in Covid-19 aid for Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar and Sao Tome and Principe

2:05 CAT | 24 Jul 2020

File: AfDB

The African Development Fund announced on Thursday the provision of $138 million to help Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar and Sao Tome and Principe fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

The African Development Fund, the African Development Bank (AfDB) entity aimed at helping the poorest countries, will provide Mozambique with €36.85 million, while Sao Tome and Principe will benefit from €9.21 million, according to an AfDB note sent today to Lusa.

“Under the financial package, known as the Multi-Country Support and Response Programme to Covid-19, measures have been agreed with governments that include strengthening health systems to deal with increased hospitalisation and testing, expanding social protection systems to protect the most vulnerable populations, and delivering money to micro, small and medium enterprises,” the note said.

In explaining this financial aid, which is divided between donations and concessional loans, that is, at lower interest rates than those practised by banks and with longer maturities, the AfDB says that “as in most of Africa, the weak testing capacity in these countries means that the cases registered may be less than the extent of the spread of the infection, making it difficult to plan the reopening of economies”.

Josephine Ngure, acting director for Southern Africa, quoted in the communiqué, said that “during these unprecedented times, it is essential that governments in the region act in a coordinated manner to protect the most vulnerable populations and lay the foundations for rapid recovery following the pandemic”.

The first case of Covid-19 in Africa emerged in Egypt on 14 February and Nigeria was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to register cases of infection on 28 February.

Among the African countries that have Portuguese as their official language, Equatorial Guinea leads in the number of infections and deaths (2,350 cases and 51 deaths), despite having revised downwards the cases after several days without updates, followed by Cabo Verde (2,154 cases and 21 deaths), Guinea-Bissau (1,949 cases and 26 deaths), Mozambique (1,582 cases and 11 deaths), Angola (812 infected and 33 deaths) and São Tomé e Príncipe (746 cases and 14 deaths).

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused more than 617,500 deaths and infected more than 15 million people in 196 countries and territories, according to a balance sheet made by AFP.

Source: Lusa