Africa CDC ready to launch hunt for new leader

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is set to launch its hunt for a new leader to replace Dr. John Nkengasong, the current director. U.S. President Joe Biden nominated Nkengasong to lead the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which would leave a vacancy at the top position at Africa CDC. The overall transition has been slow. Biden’s intent to nominate Nkengasong was announced last September and it wasn’t until March that he appeared before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but has yet to receive congressional confirmation. Amid the delays, the African Union is working to fill the role. At the end of March, the governing board of Africa CDC approved the job description for the role. In the coming weeks, once African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat finalizes the description, the job posting will be advertised, Nkengasong said, during a press briefing Thursday. This will include postings on the AU and Africa CDC’s website. This will be followed by an application period, resulting in a short list. The governing board of Africa CDC will review the applicants, conduct interviews, and submit feedback to a committee and the AU chairperson will make the final approval. The process for the selection of the Africa CDC’s head will be “very open and transparent,” Nkengasong said, adding that it is not a political position, so there will be no campaigning. “The chairperson of the African Union wants to see a very smooth transition,” he said. In the meantime, Africa CDC, which has risen to prominence due to its leadership in managing the continent’s COVID-19 response, is undergoing significant structural changes. In February, AU heads of state agreed to elevate its status from a specialized technical institution of the AU to an autonomous public health agency. This change will make the new head a “Director General” rather than a director — giving the new leader more freedom to respond quickly to health emergencies, including rapid deployment of teams. The director general will report directly to the heads of state as well as to AU Commission Chairperson Mahamat, avoiding various levels of bureaucracy that caused delays during Nkengasong’s tenure. Nkengasong is the founding head of Africa CDC, which was launched in 2017.