Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Covid-19 champion for Africa

Cyril Ramaphosa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is inoculated with a Covid-19 vaccine at the Khayelitsha Hospital in Cape Town on February 17, 2021.

Photo credit: Gianluigi Guercia | AFP

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has been appointed the African Union Bureau of Assembly of Heads of States and Government's champion on Covid-19 for his efforts to fight the pandemic.

The Presidency on Friday confirmed the development saying the appointment was made at the 34th ordinary session of the AU held on February 6.

Mr Ramaphosa established the commission on African Covid-19 response, which he chairs.

Presidential spokesperson Tyrone Seale said the commission recognises and advances the crucial role played by President Ramaphosa in driving the continental Covid-19 response during his tenure as the African Union chairman in 2020.

Some of the milestones attained include the development and endorsement of the Africa joint continental strategy for the Covid-19 outbreak. He was also behind the establishment of the Africa Task Force for Coronavirus (Aftcor) as well as the development and establishment of the African Medical Supplies Platform.

“The commission’s goal is to support the president in his role to enable his continued leadership in guiding the continental response to Covid-19,” Mr Seale said.

Some of the areas of focus in the commission’s work include the need to strengthen the public health workforce, continental manufacturing of diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics, results-orientated partnerships, and strengthening national public health institutions, including the Africa CDC.

"The commission’s mandate is two-fold: to identify gaps in the continental Covid-19 response strategy and propose evidence-based interventions and to generate evidence to assess the impact of Covid-19 on social and economic harm on the continent and propose ways to a strong recovery.