What if the gradual lifting of deconfinement measures were an opportunity to implement new, pan-African technologies and protocols? This is the wish, in the perspective of the Continental Free Trade Area of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Op-ed by former President of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo!
The world is reopening to social and economic activity after many months of lockdowns and other restrictive measures aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19.
It has become clear that, despite all the best efforts globally, the disease will stay with us longer than expected. Indeed, until a vaccine is developed, the disease is expected to continue, albeit at a reduced rate, to spread among populations and have an impact on economic activities.
The challenge for governments is how to control the spread of the disease while enabling vital economic activity to provide and protect livelihoods. Particularly in Africa, where systems and institutions are not as effective as those in more advanced countries.
I can only congratulate African states and their governments for rising to the occasion and reducing the number of deaths from Covid-19 infections, despite challenges with infrastructure and institutions. they are facing.
My fear now is that easing containment measures and reopening these countries will lead to a setback from the results recorded over the past six months, unless it is done in a smart and responsible manner. It is therefore essential that the continent continues to cooperate and adopt a coordinated approach to reopening.
At the height of the crisis, a Pan-African steering committee for crisis management (Aftcor) was set up, supported by a common fund mobilized by the continental private sector. Some of our most renowned leaders have been appointed to ensure that Africa speaks with one voice.
And, everywhere, it has been suggested that the crisis was both the most powerful impetus and the best opportunity to accelerate the emergence of the single market, through the AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area), to increase autonomy and resilience.
Avoiding a further delay of the AfCFTA!
We are now at the most critical episode of the crisis. The reopening of our borders, as well as the relaxation of containment policies in our various countries, require that we remain vigilant. This is the only way to ensure that we give our economies the necessary momentum while recovering from the Covid-19 disaster.
Already, the pandemic has forced us to miss the long-awaited date of 2020 for the launch of trade under the AfCFTA. We cannot afford to miss the new date of January 2021 if we are to make meaningful progress on economic recovery.
I believe that a major threat to the AfCFTA trade – and indeed to economic activities in general on our continent – lies in a surge in Covid-19 infections, due to cross-border movements as we reopen. commerce and business.
As we have seen elsewhere in the world, technology plays a critical role in helping us deal with this threat. I am encouraged by the intervention of various organs of the African Union, such as the Africa CDC, the Department of Trade and Industry, the African Civil Aviation Commission, the African Organization for Standardization and the Council African scientific research and innovation.
These organizations are working in partnership with multi-stakeholder private sector organizations, including AfroChampions, the African Tourism Board, the Organization of African Economic Zones and Koldchain BioCordon, to find technological solutions to some of these challenges. And most notable is that all of these “public digital goods” platforms have been made available free to African governments and citizens.
These smart solutions, often powered by digital technologies, are urgent and crucial. I am thinking of PanaBIOS, to allow cross-border travel without risking an outbreak of infections.
And others as part of the African Virtual Resilient-Integration for a Vibrant Africa (AVRIVA) virtual exchange platform. These innovations are designed to allow African governments to cross the January 2021 deadline and launch trade under the AfCFTA by bringing all ongoing negotiations online. As such, they deserve the full support of Member States.
An avoidable cost for Africans!
Others, such as TribeID, which aims to transform the capacity of e-commerce platforms to make African SMEs the beating heart of the AfCFTA, are of considerable structural importance if the AfCFTA is to become more than just a manuscript, and not another Yamoussoukro agreement. Which was supposed to open up the African skies but was not fully and adequately implemented.
Take the example of the problem that PanaBIOS is supposed to solve: how can tests performed all over the continent and digital test results generated by mutually recognized laboratories in different African countries be reliable for cross-border travel?
The alternative to this framework, TrustedTesting, modeled after the Africa CDC, would be the chaos, confusion and the enormous inconvenience in terms of time and cost that every African country requires of every traveler to take tests. on its arrival, tests before its departure and tests during its transit!
For Africans in the least connected parts of the continent, that could well represent $500 worth of tests for a single trip. Just for the “privilege” of traveling on your own continent? It is precisely to solve these kinds of problems that African cooperation was conceived and that African national technological solutions, like PanaBIOS, are now available to our leaders to approach the situation judiciously and effectively.
The fervent hope of all Pan-Africanists is that this continent does not waste this crisis. May we welcome this upcoming reopening to collaborate with intensity and show the whole world the ingenuity, guts and foresight with which the African, so often marginalized in the international system, is blessed. The pandemic must be turned into an opportunity to turn the situation around.
