Covid-19 ‘halting’ Africa’s development, says Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has lamented the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the continent’s politics and development aims.
Ramaphosa delivered the opening remarks at the African Union summit on Friday.
He was speaking in his capacity as the outgoing chairperson of the African Peer Revenue Forum after assuming the role in February 2020.
Ramaphosa says Africa has been engaged in an unprecedented struggle for survival.
“The pandemic has impacted nearly every aspect of life and existence, and no sector has been unaffected. As much as Covid-19 has altered the human health landscape, it has had political ramifications as well and will continue to do so for some time in the future.
“As Africa, a number of our developmental aspirations have been severely set back as we continue to marshal all our resources towards saving lives and protecting livelihoods.All of this notwithstanding, we soldier on, and have now trained our focus on the health, social, economic and political recovery.”
He however says the work of the forum has continued throughout the pandemic.
“This is testament to the resilience and endurance of this mechanism, as well as to the broad support it continues to receive from participating states.
“We know that the African Peer Review Mechanism is integral to our efforts to meet the aspirations of Agenda 2063, of a continent that is integrated, prosperous and peaceful.”
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