African Nations Donate Medical Supplies to Neighbors in Need

ADF STAFF

Several African countries are giving thanks, as much-needed medical supplies to fight COVID-19 arrive.

Their benefactors? Fellow African nations.

In a show of solidarity, Burundi, Ethiopia and Morocco have delivered aid in recent weeks to countries hit hard by the pandemic.

“The first African initiative for Africa, it is a proof of the capacity of the African continent to meet its own challenges by itself,” said Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita during a virtual meeting of the Alliance for Multilateralism in late June.

Morocco has led the way with King Mohammed VI announcing June 14 that his country would donate supplies to 15 African countries and to the African Union.

At the same time, Ethiopia responded to its neighbors in need, donating 17 metric tons of medicine and equipment to South Sudan, 15 metric tons to Somalia, and $300,000 worth of supplies to Djibouti.

On July 5, officers from the Burundi National Defence Force donated cartons of medicine to officials of Hirshabelle State, a region in south-central Somalia. The Soldiers serve in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

“The whole world is facing a big pandemic of coronavirus, and we decided to give some drugs to the local population to support the health system of Hirshabelle state, so they can treat our Somali brothers and sisters,” said Capt. Dionys Zabagenzi, AMISOM Sector 5 chief medical officer, GaroweOnline reported.

The aid serves the dual intentions of fighting COVID-19 and fostering continental unity, according to the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Countries that received Moroccan aid in June were Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia.

The aid package to those 15 countries included nearly 8 million masks, 900,000 visors, 600,000 hygiene caps, 60,000 gowns, 30,000 liters of hydroalcoholic gel, 75,000 boxes of chloroquine and 15,000 boxes of azithromycin.

The African Union Commission received 500,000 masks, 4,000 protective coats, 40,000 feminine hygiene cups, 60,000 visors and 2,000 liters of hydroalcoholic gel.

“It is highly appreciated that an African country has the initiative to support another member country of the African Union,” said Amira Elfadil, commissioner for social affairs of the African Union after receiving the donation, Anadolu Agency reported. “It is also to be highly appreciated that the medical supplies donated by Morocco are locally produced in Morocco by Moroccan companies.

“This has to be encouraged and emulated by other countries.”