We can build an Africa that is resilient – Kagame
The devastating effect of the COVID-19 on the world would be felt in many ways and for a long time. The physical cost, emotional and economic impacts are deeper than can be imagined. The full impact is not yet fully known, but it is possible to build up and restore.
Speaking at the opening of the Eighth Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD), President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, the host country has said that even though the pandemic has slowed down economic growth and in some cases reversed growth.
“Over the years, Africa has made significant progress to tackle socio-economic challenges. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed development gains, and in some cases reversed that progress that had been made. But we have to look for that silver lining in this crisis. Through our response, we can build an Africa that is greener and more resilient, with the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 as our blueprint.
The truth is that we were off-track in achieving these targets, even before the pandemic in some cases. Instead of being a setback, pandemic response and recovery can be used as a springboard to speed up progress, and innovate smarter ways to invest in human capital development,” he said.
He urged African countries to build mutually beneficial partnerships to strengthen its capacity to manufacture vaccines and pharmaceuticals, noting that the Economic Commission for Africa has been working on this for some time, in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The Africa CDC and AUDA-NEPAD have jointly led the way on the need for the African Medicines Agency, which has now come into force, he added.
He cited what the Africa CDC did last year by bringing together key stakeholders in the Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing. This initiative, he said, laid the groundwork for BioNTech’s commitment to produce mRNA vaccines end-to-end in Ghana, Senegal, and Rwanda, starting later this year.
He urged Africa to prioritize domestic resource mobilization to finance its development, particularly for national health systems.
“Progress has already been made for domestic health financing on our continent, and we should build on this momentum. Lastly, to support Africa’s green growth, the African Continental Free Trade Area should be used to promote the adoption of sustainable technologies and infrastructure.
To achieve the SDGs and Agenda 2063, the goals need to be integrated in our national planning frameworks, and it won’t happen on its own. It is essential to have strong mechanisms to monitor progress, and quickly adjust implementation,” he said.
“Building the Africa we want, is up to us. We have to own and lead the process, and support one another. That is why these two development agendas are so important. It is about ensuring the stability and prosperity of our continent, so that our young people can have the future they deserve,” he added.
In her remarks, the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Amina Mohammed called on African countries to repeal all gender discriminatory laws and work towards gender equality. She also called on African countries to transform education as the impact of the SDGs would be decided in Africa.
Madam Arlette Soudan-Nonault, the Minister of Environment, Sustainable Development and the Congo Basin, Congo, and Chair of the seventh session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, said the Forum gives an opportunity to transform the continent. She called on Africa to take advantage of its demographic dividend and work to transform the continent.
She noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the Congo, affecting the quality of education, and widening inequality between the genders.
“We need to efficiently respond to the impacts of climate change, and this Forum gives us the opportunity to reinforce regional collaborations,” she said.
Giving her remarks, Vera Songwe, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) commended Rwanda and said, “We are here today because we are standing in a country that has vaccinated more than 70 per cent of its population. This is an important fact because Africa will not open, and our economies will not recover if we do not vaccinate,” she said.
Ms Songwe said the conversations in most Forums like this, is about vaccine appetite.
“But when we stand here today, we talk about vaccine success. Rwanda has been able to get the vaccines and Rwanda has been able use the vaccines, so it is not an impossibility that Africa totally can get the vaccines and use the vaccines. As we continue our conversations and as we talked about meeting agenda 2030 and how we do that, we must look to our continent for the successes that we want to emulate and that we must demonstrate,” she added.
She however, cited the unfortunate situation in the entire Africa, where only 17 per cent of the population is vaccinated.
“We have about 53 per cent of African countries that have vaccines in country that are not being used. The question then is why not? Is Africa willing to stand apart from the rest of the world as we recover and we know the answer is no, because we’re all here today to talk about how we get to Agenda 2030 and the Africa we want in Agenda 2063, so we can win this battle.
We can win by looking at our neighbors, the seven countries on the continent that have managed to vaccinate – succeeded in vaccinating 70 per cent of their population and that’s the first win that I would like to talk about or at least put my conversation within,” she said.
She indicated that one of the reasons that has not happened is, Africa came together and in the two years of COVID-19, Africa has traded more with itself than it has in the five years before COVID-19, essentially because Africa had to rely on itself to begin to trade PPEs.
“Everyone became an SMA PPE producer, the Nigerians were trading across West Africa, the Kenyans were trading across East Africa, the South Africans were taking care of the Southern African Market and the Moroccans and Egyptians were taking over the North African Market. That was Africa at its best,” she said.
According to Ms Songwe, the ECA has just finished a study that showed that to live the dream of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), Africa needs about 2.2 million trucks running on the streets going from Cape to Cairo, going from Dakar to Djibouti, 2.2 million trucks if two drivers a truck that’s four million jobs created with the AfCFTA.
“But then we also need to produce the trucks, in Rwanda, we produce cars. In Morocco we produce cars, of course, in South Africa, we produce cars. Africa does have the ingredients of how to do this. And this is what Agenda 2030 is about, this is why we are standing here today,” she said.
The President of ECOSOC, Collen Vixen Kelapile in his presentation said Africa can overcome COVID-19 with vaccination. He called for vaccine equity and action to disrupt the impact of climate change.
The Eigth Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development is being held in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, under the theme: “Building forward better: A green, inclusive and resilient Africa poised to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063”.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi, in Kigali, Rwanda
Note: This story has been updated.
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