Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the President of African Development Bank (AfDB), has charged African countries to end the importation of food and pharmaceutical products from foreign countries.
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina iterated that Africa must wean itself off dependence on food and medicine imports, noting that AfDB, as an institution, has approved creation of a pharmaceutical tech foundation and began processing requests for food relief.
The AfDB President explained that Africa was hit hard by the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Now, as many countries are still struggling to rebound, they are facing rising inflation and food shortages aggravated by the war in Ukraine.
“Africa should not allow itself to be vulnerable in excessively depending on others, whether it is for vaccines or whether it is for food.”
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina
Dr Adesina observed that the current situation that the African Continent is going through is as a result of overdependence on foreign countries for everything.
“The fact is that when you are dependent on others, you are also very highly vulnerable to any shock of any kind.”
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina
Dr. Adesina disclosed that the bank approved a US$1.5 billion financing facility for emergency food production, with the aim of averting a looming food crisis. He added that the funds are meant to help 20 million farmers produce 38 million tonnes of food.
Adesina, meanwhile, said the bank has already started receiving requests from countries to draw on the fund.
“Once those things come to our board, they are swiftly reviewed and approved, and the money is out at the door.”
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina
Meanwhile, the AfDB’s board this week approved the creation of a new Africa Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation.
Dr. Adesina said the foundation would allow Africa to leverage intellectual property rights, protected technologies and innovations to expand Africa’s pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing sectors.
“Africa imports 80% to 90% of all its medicines for a population of 1.3 billion people. We cannot and we must not outsource the health security of Africa to the benevolence of others.”
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina
The World Trade Organization last week agreed on a partial waiver of intellectual property rights to allow developing countries to produce and export COVID-19 vaccines.
AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina made this known on the sidelines of a meeting of Commonwealth leaders in Kigali.
As part of the bank’s strategy to boost agriculture on the continent, the African Development Bank recently unveiled plans to raise US $1billion to support agricultural production in Africa and shield the continent from potential wheat shortages arising from the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to AfDB, the plan is to increase the production of wheat, rice, soybeans, and other crops to feed countries who may be affected.
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