United Bank for Africa (UBA) on Monday, celebrated Africa Day 2020, that brought together global leaders at the 2nd UBA Africa Day Conversations, screened live across the continent. UBA helped set the
the debate around African economic development through its series of “Africa Conversations”.
This year, the focus was on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Leaders emphasised the need for meaningful collaboration between governments and the private sector, as a requirement for the quick recovery of the economy of the African continent post Covid-19.
The panel included the President of Liberia, George Weah; United States Senator Chris Coons; the President & Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK), Professor Benedict Okey Oramah; President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer; and was moderated by the Group Chairman, UBA Plc, Tony O. Elumelu.
Other leading voices contributing were the Founder, Africa CEO Forum, Amir Ben Yahmed; the SecretaryGeneral of the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), George Chikoti; Administrator, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Achim Steiner and Donald Kaberuka, the former President of the African Union.
Elumelu spoke on the need to mobilise quickly and explained the necessity to identify a more fundamental solution to Africa’s challenges. “This is the time for us to deal with the situation, this is not the time for fnger pointing, but for collaborative efforts by governments and organisations, to fight the pandemic globally.
There is need to fatten the curve, we need global cooperation to stem global de- pression. Africa requires a large stimulus package, and we need long-term solutions to prevent a cycle of debt.”
Liberian President, George Weah, demonstrated how collaboration has assisted his country to stem the sufferings brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. “In Liberia we have taken measures to ease the
financial burden on vulner- able business in the informal sector by providing small loan assistance to SMEs and traders. In addition, we are working with commercial banks to manage the repayment of loans as well as to create stimulus packages for citizens,” President Weah said.
US, Senator Chris Coons made valuable contributions to the discussions, saying “we must develop a vaccine that is free and affordable and freely distributed so that full economic activities can return. This is no time to be looking backwards. We recognise the power of collective collaboration on the continent.”
Prof. Benedict Okey Oramah called for the swift implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement and disclosed that Afrexim has made available $200mil- lion to supply fertilisers and grains amongst across Africa.
The Afrexim boss asserted “If Africa allows hunger takeover the people, it will see an increase in insecurity, which will take a long time to overcome.”
