Foreign Affairs Ministers of the G5-Sahel countries (Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Mali) now consider the coronavirus as their public enemy number one, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Mauritanians Living Abroad, Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
Covid-19 now precedes terrorism, Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a press statement after a meeting on Wednesday by videoconference. The Mauritanian minister added that the common area of the five countries has already recorded 1,200 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Mauritania, which currently assumes the rotating presidency of the G5-Sahel, has so far reported seven cases, with two recoveries and one death.
The G5Sahel also called for the cancellation of the debt of its members to help them cope with this pandemic and its present and future economic consequences. It considers that the debt service suspension promised by the G20 is not enough.
Foreign ministers also praised Chad’s military actions against Boko Haram elements in the Lake Chad region.
MOO/te/abj/APA