The Director General of the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the North African region, Mohamed El Azizi, is working on “faster and more efficient regional approaches and solutions” to battle the coronavirus pandemic in North Africa. Here is an exclusive interview with APA.
What do you think of the Covid-19 pandemic that is hitting the world, including Africa?
All over the world, we are experiencing a very serious moment. Hour by hour, we are saddened by the deaths and grief that bereave families. Day by day, we are affected by the financial difficulties that are hitting the most vulnerable people. I am paying a vibrant homage to the medical staff who are on the front line, for their courage and selflessness they demonstrate to save lives. And we stand alongside them with an unfailing determination. We will soon overcome this virus together. During the present restive period, the African continent is more than ever facing tremendous budgetary challenges to effectively combat the coronavirus.
We estimate the Covid-19 pandemic would drop Africa’s GDP between $22.1 billion -in a baseline scenario- to $88.3 billion in a worst-case scenario. In Africa, this forecast is estimated to 0.7 to 2.8 percentage points of GDP contraction in 2020. This would result in the shrinking of African countries’ limited budgetary discretions; which would affect the capacity for an efficient anti-Covid-19 fight.
The Covid-19 pandemic is causing havoc in Africa. So, what is the African Development Bank’s response ?
Faced with what is shaping up as an unprecedented crisis, the response must be equal to the threat. I mean a strong, fast and flexible response. On Wednesday April 8, the African Development Bank announced the creation of a $10 billion fund to support African governments and private sectors in the fight against the spreading Covid-19 on the continent. $5.5 billion will be dedicated to sovereign projects in middle-income countries. And $3.1 billion will finance sovereign and regional operations to support fragile countries.
An additional $1.35 billion will go to the private sector. This fund is the third strong measure of our overall response to the crisis. In late March, the Bank first issued a record $3 billion “Combat the Covid-19” social bond. It is the largest social loan issued on the international capital market. In early April, our institution released a Covid-19 emergency aid to support the World Health Organization’s response in Africa.
This financial assistance will help build capacity for prevention, testing and treatment prevention in 41 African countries. It will also upgrade surveillance systems, help ensure the supply and distribution of laboratory tests and reagents, and support national and regional coordination mechanisms.
How is the Bank handling its response in North Africa?
In each of North African countries, the pandemic situation is ever changing. It requires new precautionary measures and strategies on a daily basis. In this context, we are working hard to build the countries’ capacity to contain the spread of the virus and help them mitigate the economic and social impacts of the pandemic in North Africa.
We have fully mobilized teams in various sectors. Their priority is to deploy the fastest and most effective national and regional approaches and solutions. We aim to restore budgetary discretions to countries, preserve the conditions for growth, support businesses and assist the most vulnerable populations. To this end, we will provide shortly a series of emergency operations for North African countries. Ultimately, we have to adapt our way of acting and thinking in the face of this unprecedented situation.
At the AfDB headquarters as well as throughout North Africa, we remain operational despite the cancellation of meetings, events and trips. We have resorted to telework and ITC to preserve our capacity to remain active and best serve our customers in the region.
HA/Dng/APA