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As Europe and the United States saw hospitals filled beyond capacity and death tolls mount during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts warned it was only a matter of time until Africa’s lower-income countries experienced something even worse.
When that expected crisis didn’t happen, many concluded that African governments and health institutions might have something to teach their wealthier counterparts around the world.
Now Africa faces a third wave of COVID-19 transmission, driven by highly contagious variants and public fatigue — and 18 months into this global crisis, the staggering inequality of access to the tools needed to fight it could mean the continent’s good news story is reaching its limit. Only about 1.1% of the continent’s population has been fully immunized.
“We have had pledges across the world but we all know that unless and until we see those pledges transform into vaccines arriving in hospitals and vaccines that are put into peoples’ arms that doesn't solve the problem for the continent,” Dr. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa CDC, said Thursday.
At this month’s G-7 summit, leaders pledged 870 million vaccine doses — but they only intend to deliver half of those by the end of 2021. Meanwhile, 18 countries in Africa have used 80% of the vaccines they have received through COVAX. The continent needs an additional 215 million doses to fully vaccinate 10% of its population, and around 700 million doses to reach 30% of the population by the end of the year, according to WHO’s Dr. Matshidiso Moeti.
Health experts puzzled over how African countries initially kept COVID-19 at bay. If the third wave proves more devastating, the collective failure to deliver proven defenses will be an obvious culprit.
Read: Latest COVID-19 surge 'threatens to be Africa’s worst yet'
No regrets
Mark Lowcock, the now-former United Nations humanitarian chief, does not see anything wrong with the process by which his successor, Martin Griffiths, was appointed. Griffiths became the fifth Briton in a row to land the job, and civil society groups have charged the process lacks transparency.
“Every member state was invited to nominate candidates, lots of people tried, there were interviews, there was a scrutiny of candidates, and the SG [secretary-general] appointed who he thought was the best person for the job,” he tells Amy Lieberman.
Exclusive: Mark Lowcock calls for humanitarian system revamp as he exits UN post
Formal complaints
“This is not the first time the Foreign Office has tried to fob us off with dodgy information on what it is up to.”
— Sarah Champion, chair, U.K. International Development CommitteeComplaints are mounting about transparency at the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as historic foreign aid cuts continue, Will Worley reports.
Read: FCDO giving 'dodgy information' to UK MPs is a 'pattern'
Don’t miss a beat: Will is keeping track of the U.K. aid cuts as information trickles out.
Meanwhile, the U.K. Charity Commission has issued a warning to NGOs to keep pushing forward on their commitments to safeguarding against sexual abuse. Will reports that the formal alert is a sign that official pressure on the aid sector will not be letting up anytime soon.
Read: Charity Commission issues safeguarding alert to NGOs
Take it to the bank
The International Monetary Fund’s executive board is expected to advance a proposal today to issue $650 billion in reserve assets — known as Special Drawing Rights — to help countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impacts. The plan will still need approval from IMF’s governors, but appears likely to get it in August — despite an effort by some U.S. lawmakers to block it.
Freeing up cash for low-income countries in the middle of an unprecedented global crisis seems like a no-brainer, but as designed, most of the SDRs would go to wealthier countries, and the U.K. government reportedly wants to deduct them from its development budget. C’mon, man!
DevExplains: What are Special Drawing Rights?
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In the news
An estimated 230,000 people have been displaced by violence and fighting in Myanmar since the Feb. 1 coup, according to the U.N. [Al Jazeera]
A UNDP study shows that the death toll due to 12 years of violence in northeast Nigeria is 10 times higher than previous estimates, with children under 5 accounting for the vast majority of deaths. [Al Jazeera]
A new study reveals COVID-19 could have started spreading in China as early as October 2019, two months before the first case was identified in Wuhan. [Reuters]
A plan in India to build farmers digital databases to boost their income has raised concerns about privacy and the inclusivity. [Thomson Reuters Foundation]
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About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
