ADF STAFF
The African Union has announced the launch of a one-stop online shop that will help countries buy much-needed medical equipment during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Africa Medical Supplies Platform lists cost-effective testing kits, personal protective equipment, ventilators, patient monitors and a range of disinfectants from certified manufacturers.
Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, who helped develop the platform, said the African Union already is getting requests “from other parts of the world to license the concept.”
“Africa is leading the way with this online solution to ensure all of our governments get access to personal protective equipment and other urgent medical supplies they need, at fair prices,” Masiyiwa said in a report by The Namibian.
The platform, which will work like Amazon or eBay, is a result of a partnership involving the African Union; the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Janngo, a social startup studio; the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank); and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, among other organizations.
Payments will be handled by Afreximbank, and African carriers such as RwandAir, Ethiopian Airways and South African Airways will transport goods to major cities. Most orders will be delivered in five to 10 days.
Masiyiwa said the platform will “unashamedly” tout products manufactured in Africa.
“This platform is not-for-profit; it sits with the Africa CDC and with Afreximbank. Those are the core partners of the platform, no fees, no business for any of us,” Masiyiwa said in a report by South Africa’s News24.
The platform was developed as African nations struggle to compete with other countries in the race to buy testing kits, which are crucial in preventing the spread of COVID-19. The average number of coronavirus tests per 1 million people in Africa was 1,669, compared with 173,029 in Iceland, 44,123 in the United States and 31,592 in the United Kingdom, according to Masiyiwa.
Some say the platform could mean huge savings across Africa, where lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are costing the continent an estimated $65 billion a month.
“If we can use a third of this amount to test, we don’t have to lock down. This platform could save us $40 billion” in losses, Vera Songwe of the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Africa told The Guardian.
The platform was unveiled as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across Africa. It took 98 days for the continent to reach 100,000 confirmed cases, but that number was doubled in only 18 days, according to the World Health Organization. By late June, the disease had sickened more than 383,000 Africans and killed almost 9,700, according to Africa CDC. South Africa, which has led the continent in testing, accounts for more than a third of the continent’s confirmed cases.
“Although the number of infections in Africa is currently lower than elsewhere in the world, there is an expectation that the worst is still to come, with dire social and economic consequences,” said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chairs the African Union.