7.8. Best Practices

Several countries have established ad hoc institutional or legal mechanisms to deal with the pandemic, such as national scientific commissions (Algeria), advisory technical and scientific committees (Mozambique) and strategic monitoring committees, crisis committees or coordination mechanisms (Morocco, Nigeria, Togo and Tunisia), as well as developing preparedness and response plans (Chad, Lesotho, Sudan and Uganda).113 Given the transnational nature of the virus, the quick and unified continental and regional community responses deserve highlighting too.

7.8.1. The African Union Response to COVID-19

The AU has been at the forefront of the fight against the virus. On 3 February 2020, the Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC), a three-year old agency of the AU, established the Africa Task Force for Novel Coronavirus (AFCOR) before the continent had a single confirmed case. AFCOR’s mission is to assess preparedness and provide technical assistance and is executed by six Working Groups focusing on different priorities in Regional Collaborating Centres, which take into account the capacity, systems and priorities in the five economic regions of the AU.114 Of the 13 co-chairs of the different Working Groups, two are women (Dr Lyndah Makayotto, Kenya, and Dr Natalie Mayet, South Africa).115 AFCOR implements the Joint Continental Strategy developed by health ministers of the AU Member States, focusing on limiting transmission.116 It also helped establish 44 African laboratories with COVID-19 testing capability by mid-April.117 Africa CDC has also launched the Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing, also known as “Test, Trace, Treat.”118 Meanwhile, to enable countries’ quick procurement of critical medical and laboratory supplies, Africa CDC together with African Export-Import Bank has set up the Africa Medical Supplies Platform.119 In March, the AU launched the COVID-19 Response Fund and in April Chair President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed special envoys to secure international economic support for the continent.120 Weekly webinars permit a cross-continental exchange of best practices between clinicians.121

The AU has also cooperated with Regional Economic Communities (RECs).122 At the intergovernmental level, African ministers of finance have met to discuss mutual support and to coordinate their response, for example when establishing joint protocols on border closures.123 Only four ministers of finance out of the 55 Member States of the AU are women.124

The African Union’s guidelines on gender-responsive responses to COVID-19 prioritise gender equality and women’s empowerment and demand gender mainstreaming and integration in the COVID-19 responses of Member States.125

This quick responsiveness has elevated the role the continent is playing in the global fight against the pandemic, especially when it comes to the quest for a vaccine. Genome sequencing is necessary to analyse the virus subtypes and subsequently produce a vaccine.126 In December 2019, Africa CDC had established the Pathogen Genomics Intelligence Institute to connect African research centres, pool resources and stop national silos, as a way to fight infectious diseases like Ebola.127 As a result of this, the African Centre of Excellence for the Genomics of Infectious Disease in Nigeria was able to publish the first virus sequence three days after receiving a sample on 1 March.128 Soon after, the Institut National de la Recherche Biomédicale in DR Congo also published a virus sequence.129 In September 2020, Africa CDC with WHO launched a network of laboratories dedicated to genome sequencing.130

7.8.2. The Regional Response

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was the first REC in Africa to start developing a preparedness assessment and response to the pandemic, in February 2020.131 The West African Health Organization, which acquired experience with infectious diseases during the Ebola epidemic in 2014, developed operational guides for the fight against COVID-19 in the ECOWAS region and organised online training for health care workers.132 ECOWAS also developed a joint post-pandemic recovery economic response plan.133