How the Funds will be used

1. Mitigate the social, economic and humanitarian impact of COVID-19 in all African countries. The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to reverse the socio-economic advancements made by Africa in the last 30 years as the pandemic proves to be more severe on the socio-economic well-being of populations in Africa. Therefore, money raised through the Fund will be used to implement measures to mitigate the socio-economic and humanitarian impact of COVID-19 in Africa.

2. Boost the capacity of the Africa CDC to support response to public health emergencies across the continent. Africa CDC was created to support efforts by Member States to prepare for and respond to public health threats across the continent. Its establishment followed the hard lessons from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014, which caused the loss of thousands of lives and had a heavy toll on the socio-economic well-being of individuals and groups in Africa. Part of this fund will be used to boost the capacity of Africa CDC to fully play its role as a continental public health institution as stated in its statute.

3. Support the procurement and distribution of essential COVID-19 medical equipment and supplies and mobilize rapid response by Member States. Some of the 55 African Union Member States have been having difficulties in procuring medical equipment and supplies needed to boost response to the pandemic. This Fund will support pool procurement of diagnostics and other medical commodities by Africa CDC for distribution to the Member States, and to support the deployment of one million community workers and community healthcare workers to support contact tracing.