President El Sisi reviews Coronavirus combat efforts with African leaders

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi participated in a mini-summit with a number of African leaders, via video conference. Those included members of the African Union bureau, primarily Chairman of the African Union and President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, in addition to current heads of various regional economic groupings in Africa, as well as the Chairperson of the AU Commission.

The mini-summit followed-up on the outcomes of previous summits with regard to the repercussions of the spread of Coronavirus Disease, COVID-19, on African countries. It also discussed ways to address the crisis currently and in the future.

President El Sisi confirmed that countering the Coronavirus pandemic requires firm cooperation among African countries within a comprehensive framework to curb the impact and negative repercussions of the spread of the virus in Africa. This shall take place by continuing to urge international financial institutions and Africa’s partners to provide economic support for African countries, particularly through debt reduction and relief for African countries from their debt payments.

President El Sisi emphasized the need to continue joint African action, building on previous successes achieved during the past months and capitalizing on the positives stemming from the current crisis, primarily the ability of the African continent to unite and interconnect its countries’ peoples and institutions within a framework of collective action to counter the challenges emanating from similar crises.

President El Sisi confirmed the importance of continuing to support African medical staff to combat the spread of Coronavirus and providing the continent's medical needs and supplies as well as supporting the important role of the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention and AU fund to combat COVID-19 in Africa. The President reviewed medical assistance that Egypt has provided in this context to African countries.

The President asserted that combating the repercussions of the Coronavirus should take place in parallel with other continental efforts to combat various dangers that threaten the security and stability of African countries, mainly terrorism and extremism, in addition to addressing priorities pertinent to Africa’s Agenda 2063, mainly combating hunger, achieving food security and developing infrastructure projects.

The meeting reviewed the current situation of the spread of the Coronavirus in different parts of Africa, including infection rates, cases and deaths. This is in addition to the AU efforts to mobilize resources to combat this crisis, and progress of a number of initiatives at the level of AU institutions to enhance the capacities of African countries to combat the economic, social and health implications of the Coronavirus, as well as exchanging the best practices and experience in this regard.