Infrastructure investment platform Africa50 has granted $300 000 to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) for it to buy test kits and other medical equipment, as well as to mobilise frontline responders.
Africa50 also provided $500 000 to fund other targeted infection control and prevention activities in several African countries.
The grants form part of the investment platform’s Covid-19 Relief Support Initiative, as its response to support the continent in the fight against the pandemic.
The $800 000 medical-response grants comprise the initiative’s first phase, while the second phase will focus on technology-enabled solutions to help address the unprecedented demand for digital health innovations, which was triggered by the pandemic.
A third phase will focus on medium to longer term solutions to support economic recovery and stabilisation, including the implementation of major infrastructure projects.
Africa50 CEO Alain Ebobissé says the platform stands in solidarity with all African nations and their stakeholders around the world during these uncertain times.
“Beyond the tragic loss of human lives, the pandemic is projected to result in a decline in Africa’s gross domestic product growth of between 3% and 8%.”
He underlines Africa’s vulnerability to this new, rapidly evolving environment and stressed the need for diligent, impactful responses and continental cooperation.
“Governments, the private sector, development institutions, and civil society have acted quickly, both to limit the spread of the virus and to prop up economies.
“If we work together, we can limit the damage of the pandemic. This crisis underlines once again the urgency of improving the continent’s infrastructure to ensure that people can enjoy productive, happy and healthy lives,” Ebobissé says.