A Paris summit on Africa financing in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic ended Tuesday with a call for greater support for the continents financing and vaccination efforts. President Emmanuel Macron of France and the African leaders in attendance outlined key actions needed, including doubling Covid-19 vaccination targets for the continent by the end of 2021 under the Covax vaccine-sharing scheme, as well as lifting Covid-19 vaccine patent rights. Lifting the patents would give African countries a chance to locally manufacture the vaccines, it was observed. The leaders also discussed persuading International Monetary Fund (IMF) member states to triple so-called special drawing rights monetary reserves for Africa, to US$100 billion. Macron noted that the moment could be seized to respond to broader, long-standing – and unaddressed – challenges facing Africa. Warning that an economic and strategic new deal with Africa would not happen overnight, he said the talks in the French capital had triggered a new dynamic. With Africas economy expected to grow just over 3 per cent this year (about half the world average), international financial institutions say the continent faces a nearly $300 billion spending shortfall over the next few years. There is no durable exit from the continents economic crisis, IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva said, without beating the health crisis. However, she argued that ramping up the Covid-19 vaccination campaign would generate trillions of dollars in additional output benefiting not only Africa but richer economies as well. We have worked on the pathway to accelerate the exit from the health crisis, and to sum it up, it would require 40 per cent vaccinations of everyone everywhere by 2021 – that is very important for Africa – 60 per cent vaccinations by the middle of 2022. And then we have a hope of turning this page, Georgieva said. Felix Tshisekedi, Democratic Republic of Congo President, who is also chairperson of the African Union (AU), said having Africans manufacture and supply Covid-19 vaccines could help overcome the reluctance among some of being inoculated with foreign shots. Tshisekedi also called for greater debt relief and market access for the continent and for international financing to take into account its fight on terror. He also urged his African counterparts to play their part by establishing good governance, fighting corruption and supporting African youth. On Monday, leaders discussed helping Sudan in its new dispensation. President Paul Kagame attended the two-day twin summit.
