Addis Ababa: The Kingdom of Morocco is firmly committed to the principle of solidarity to protect the African continent and help eradicate the pandemic of Covid-19, said Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Mr. Nasser Bourita, before the 40th session of the Executive Council of the African Union, which continues its work Thursday at the headquarters of the pan-African organization in Addis Ababa.
“The ambition is to create an integrated Africa and a collective vision on all levels, including political and economic ones. A welded and united Africa,” said Mr Bourita who leads the Moroccan delegation to this session of the Executive Council.
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has plunged the world into its greatest economic slump. At a time when Africa was living at the pace of unbridled globalization, the pandemic has stopped its momentum and continues to immobilize the world as new variants emerge, the minister said.
In addition to its socio-economic impact, this pandemic has proved that when health security is at risk, all sectors are at stake, and that there is no global security without health security, noted Mr. Bourita, adding that Africa has shown resilience, combativeness and adaptability following the outbreak of this health crisis, by devising strategies to limit the socio-economic impact of this scourge on African economies.
“Today, African solidarity is needed to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on African economies, and it is in this context that comes the initiative of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, to provide medical aid to more than twenty African countries from the five regions of the Continent to support their efforts in the fight against the pandemic and mitigate its effects on their economies,” stressed the Minister.
Mr. Bourita recalled that HM King Mohammed VI chaired, on January 27, 2022, the ceremony to launch the construction of a manufacturing plant for Covid-19 and other vaccines, a structuring project that will ultimately contribute to ensuring the sovereignty of vaccines in the Kingdom and the African continent as a whole.
The Minister said that since the emergence of the pandemic, Morocco was among the first countries to convert its industry to meet national and continental health needs by manufacturing masks, antiseptic gels and other health equipment all Made in Morocco, adding that the Kingdom has not only taken strict and rapid health and security measures but has also made financial compensation efforts to support the population with mitigation measures, especially in the formal but also informal economy.
Mr. Bourita emphasized the imperative “to join our individual and collective efforts to provide us with the capacity to manufacture vaccines in Africa and proceed with the vaccination of all our populations”.
“Morocco reiterates its support to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) of the African Union and commends the tremendous work done by the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team in securing millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccines to our Continent,” said the Minister, noting that it is also important to highlight the role played by the African diaspora for its various contributions around the world, which have helped to fight effectively against the pandemic but also for its financial transfers to Africa.
“Finally, our pan-African institution must develop a common vision and interact with its partners to meet the socio-economic challenges created by the pandemic,” concluded Mr. Bourita.