Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
By Gerald Mbanda
In Africa, COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake up call when the continent finds that no single country has the ability to manufacture the much needed vaccine. The continent is lagging behind the vaccination race because the vaccines have to be provided by rich western countries that are able to manufacture them. Although rich countries had agreed to provide the vaccines to the poor countries through the World Health Organization (WHO) Covax facility, the promise has been more or less an empty talk or extremely sluggish. Reason? The rich countries are more concerned with the survival of their own people.
As western countries roll out the COVID-19 vaccine to their citizens, the few lucky African countries to receive the vaccines have not yet got even enough for the frontline workers. The rich countries have acquired more than they need and are hoarding the excess. According to the Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the continent will need to vaccinate two-thirds of the population to reach herd immunity, requiring 1.5billion doses for a double shot regime at an estimated cost of $10billion-15billion. The Dean of the liberal arts college at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Jeremy Youde, wrote in a recent post that while many states in the Global North are likely to achieve widespread vaccination later this year, middle and low-income countries may not receive significant vaccine access until 2024!
The WHO Director General Tedros Adanon expressed frustration when he said, that the world faces a “catastrophic moral failure” because of unequal Covid vaccine policies. President Kagame tweeted saying, “this is hypocrisy and double standards we have always talked about. Just one of the many and consequential examples!!!” Kagame latter called for African countries to speak with one voice on importance of global vaccine equity. The Moral failure of the West is not new because it has been an integral part of the relationship with Africa. Since slave trade and colonialism the writing is on the wall that it is about “them and not us.”
The question here is why does the whole African continent find itself at the end of the queue unable to manufacture its own vaccines and has to be dependent on rich countries? It is us Africans who are our own enemies in a number of things. Africa is the richest continent in the world yet our countries and people remain poor. The richest economies in the world; US, Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, etc, enriched themselves with African resources. Today, we also have a moral failure of the African leaders and the elite who steal the resources of their own countries, which is a discussion for another day.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, between 70-90 percent of over the counter and prescription drugs are imported, while countries like China import 5 percent and India 20 percent. When I looked through the Africa Union (AU) ten year implantation plan of the agenda 2063, I could hardly find any single project for promoting scientific research and manufacture of essential medicines. COVID-19 has shown us how vulnerable the African continent is, by relying on other countries when it is a matter of life and death. We have not yet invested wisely and promoted made in Africa. With a common vision and through the reformed AU mechanisms, I have confidence that Africa can make it.
African countries must have budgets for scientific research in various fields. Data shows that in Sub-Saharan Africa, except South Africa, only Kenya and Senegal spend 0.4 percent of their GDP on research. African countries can partner with rich countries to bridge funding gaps, train scientists as well as putting up laboratories. Thanks to the China-aided construction of the headquarters of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Addis Ababa Ethiopia under the framework of the Forum for China and Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Again, African countries need to provide incentives to scientists in form of attractive remuneration and this would as well reverse the brain drain of African scientists who go to look for greener pastures in developed countries. In a study conducted in 2019 by John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University, researchers found out that many Chinese trained scientists were going back home simply because the Chinese government initiated a deliberate policy of improved remuneration. More than 4,500 Chinese scientists left the US in 2017 alone. Today, China is a world class in various scientific fields including Artificial Intelligence (AI). A Nigerian Dr. Onyema Ogbuagbu who works as an infectious disease specialist at the Yale School of Medicine is a member of the team that helped develop the COVID-19 vaccine for Pfizer. Africa needs to attract such brilliant scientists back home
Africa’s richest entrepreneurs should be encouraged to invest in scientific research and pharmaceutical companies. Drug markets in Africa are monopolized by rich countries which make supernormal profits from the majority poor end users. A report by the Centre for Global Development reveals that everyday drugs like painkillers and contraceptives can cost up to 30 times more than in the UK and USA. It is estimated that the ten richest Africans own as much as the poorest half of the continent and if their fortune is invested in such crucial areas, they will make profit and also give assurance to the health safety of the African people.
There must be Pan- Africanist investment driven spirit. Political and business leaders must be linked up. The AU can have a special session with Africa’s billionaires and top investors to discuss Public Private Partnerships (PPP) that can boost the continent’s self-reliance. Aliko Dangote, Nassef Sawiris, Nicky Oppenheimer, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Mike Adenuga are some of the billionaire African sons who can make a difference. It is estimated that the wealth of three richest billionaires in Africa is more than 28.8billion dollars, exceeding the wealth of the bottom 50percent of the African population estimated at 22.9billion dollars. Social corporate responsibility if adapted as a culture can make a big difference in improving African countries’ healthcare systems and other vital services.
Last but not least, the western cultural influence has made the African elite have a mindset that trusts more in foreign manufactured everything, than the home made something. The experience of COVID-19 vaccines has shown us that at times of crisis; it is dangerous and catastrophic to be at the mercy of other people. Let us build the Africa we want that is self-reliant.
Gerald Mbanda is a veteran journalist and a former Head of Media Development Department at Rwanda Governance Board. He is the author of a book on China and Rwanda, titled; Effective Leadership is Key to Transformational Governance.
