Participants at the African Economic Conference (AEC) 2020 have solicited for the participation of African women in the continent’s recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This formed part of the discussions at the ongoing AEC 2020 jointly organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The conference held virtually had as its theme “Africa beyond COVID-19: Acceleration towards inclusive and sustainable development”.
Participants noted that for Africa to recover rapidly from COVID-19, it should focus on building sustainable health, education and food industries and provide income to support women.
Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde said African countries should incorporate gender considerations in their responses to the pandemic.
“Getting women in building back better after this COVID-19 will require dedicated and increased fiscal resource allocation to smart investments in health, education, and consequently the contribution to development,” she said.
Zewde added that the continent must tap into its unique African values in order to achieve a resilient recovery.
“We in Africa have a unique tradition of solidarity. We have a culture of sharing whatever we may have as a community and it is a great value that should not be overlooked in our suggested solutions.”
Mrs Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the UNECA, said African countries needed additional concessional financing and private sector-led investments to ensure their long-term recovery.
“As we strive to catalyse recovery, we must embrace the opportunities offered by the pandemic, including the window of opportunity created by the decline in fossil fuel prices, which have enhanced the economic viability of green investments in renewable energy.”
Songwe added that private sector investments would contribute to Africa’s large infrastructure deficits, especially in the area of energy.
AfDB President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina further restated the bank’s commitment to work with other institutions to build a resilient and forward-looking health defence system for Africa.
Adesina was represented by Mr Hanan Morsi, Director, Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research Department
“With these few examples of the disproportional impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, we as policymakers, researchers, development partners, and champions of policy change are challenged to design solutions that leave no country or community behind,”
The ECA also called for Multilateral Development Banks to be recapitalised and stressed the need for such institutions to adopt a more proactive and countercyclical financing posture, including bringing their equity-to-loan ratios more in line with their commercial counterparts.
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