All capable nations urged to assist Africa

China reiterates vaccine and medical aid, UN chief calls for equitable rollout globally

China has called on all capable countries to urgently provide COVID-19 vaccines to Africa while reiterating its pledge to continue with aid to the continent and relieve its debt burden.

Vice-Premier Han Zheng reiterated on May 18 China’s commitment to help African nations relieve their debt burden and continue with COVID-19 vaccine aid to the continent.

He made the remarks in a speech via video link at the Summit on the Financing of African Economies.

After having comprehensively implemented the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, China will continue to work with the global community to step up debt relief for African nations under the principle of “joint action and equitable burden”, Han said.

The summit, hosted by France, also brought together a number of leaders from African and European nations as well as the heads of international organizations.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa reached 4.71 million as of May 19, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. The specialized healthcare agency of the 55-member African Union said the death toll from the pandemic stands at 127,005 while 4.26 million patients across the continent have recovered from the disease.

In promoting the fair distribution of vaccines to Africa, Han said China would continue with its vaccine aid program to the continent and facilitate the commercial purchase of vaccines from nations, adding that Beijing hopes the international community can offer greater support to ensure the availability and affordability of vaccines on the continent.

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said at the summit that the organization estimates Africa’s additional financing needs for an adequate COVID response at around $285 billion through 2025, of which $135 billion is for low-income countries. Han expressed Beijing’s support for encouraging rich nations to reallocate funding in the IMF’s special drawing rights monetary reserves to African states.

China, which holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in May, convened a high-level open debate on May 19 to focus on addressing the root causes of conflict while promoting post-pandemic recovery in Africa.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on all capable countries to urgently provide COVID-19 vaccines to Africa while chairing a Security Council open debate via video link.

“The international community should give more help on anti-pandemic supplies, medicines, technology and funding, especially through ways including non-reimbursable assistance, preferential procurement, technology transfer, and cooperative production, so as to ensure the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in Africa,” he said.

In the face of the once-in-a-century pandemic, China and Africa are willing to jointly launch a partnership initiative to support Africa’s development, Wang said.

“China welcomes more countries and international organizations, especially Africa’s traditional cooperation partners, to join this initiative, adhering to the principle of ‘Africaled, equal-footing, and openness’, strengthening coordination and cooperation, committing to real multilateralism, so as to gather the strong force to support Africa’s development,” he said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, while emphasizing supply of more COVID-19 vaccines in Africa’s plans to recover from the pandemic, told the debate, “I urge member states to make proactive efforts to include women and young people when shaping post-pandemic recovery.”

“Guaranteeing equal opportunities, social protection, access to resources and services and inclusive and meaningful participation in decision-making are not simply moral and legal obligations,” he said. “Out of 1.4 billion doses administered around the world today, only 24 million have reached Africa — less than 2 percent,” Guterres said.

The secretary-general emphasized that equitable and sustainable vaccine roll-out worldwide is the quickest path to fast and fair recovery from the pandemic. He underlined that this requires countries to share doses, remove export restrictions, ramp up local production and fully fund global initiatives that promote equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.