The African Development Bank has approved almost US$8.9 million in grant for six (6) countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) including Zimbabwe.
The grant is meant for the procurement of laboratory and medical equipment in Lesotho, Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe which are among the countries with insufficient resources to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The bank noted in a statement:
The financing will reinforce the Sadc’s capacity to coordinate pandemic response measures, including surveillance and sensitization in the six beneficiary countries.
The Sadc countries and São Tomé & Príncipe have inadequate resources and capacity to effectively manage the Covid-19 pandemic, which has put a strain on already fragile health systems in the countries.
As a result, these countries are now struggling to respond effectively to the fast-evolving situation posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
This comes when the number of officially recorded cases in Africa are steadily rising amid fears of a second wave of the virus.
The outbreak of the novel virus has caused stalled the growth of many economies, including those of developed states, thereby worsening the economic and humanitarian crisis that preceded the outbreak of the virus.
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