Africa lags far behind in vaccinating its population against COVID-19.
Chinese President Xi Jinping promised a billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine for Africa on Monday, in the form of donations or support in local production.
“In the framework of the fight against covid, China will supply Africa a billion more doses of vaccines, of which 600 million will be in the form of donations and 400 million in other forms, such as the creation of vaccine production units” he said in a distance speech at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
The conference takes place in a context in which African countries seek to reactivate their economies hard hit by the pandemic. To achieve this, they seek to strengthen cooperation with China, the main commercial partner of the continent.
Africa lags far behind in vaccinating the population against coronavirus. According to Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Ren Hongbin, China has already delivered more than 160 million doses of vaccines to Africa, much of it in the form of donations.
“We have to continue the solidarity fight against the covid. We must prioritize the protection of our populations and close the vaccination gap, ”said the Chinese leader.
On the mainland, Egypt has started manufacturing vaccines from the Chinese laboratory Sinovac. Other projects are more or less advanced, in South Africa and Senegal.
The Chinese leader also reported the implementation of dozens of other projects on the continent in the health sector, but also in the digital technology and security sector.
In addition, he announced debt cancellation and the reallocation of 10 billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund to African countries. (I)
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