President Muhammadu Buhari has said all hands must be on deck to ensure that Africa rises from the impact of the pandemic to even greater heights.
“We must build strong collaborative partnerships across the aisles in our parliaments, with our judiciaries, the executive and the private sector and civil society.
“If we learnt anything from COVID and its aftermath, it is that no Nation, institution or group can succeed alone. Collaboration is the key to making the world work today”, he stated.
Pointing out that Africa has fared better than several other continents in successfully containing the COVID-19 pandemic, the president said the social and economic costs have been high for African countries.
Insisting that a post-COVID economic recovery strategy for Africa must go beyond efforts in individual countries, President Buhari said that increased collaborative measures must be taken by African countries for sustained economic recovery, growth and development.
“The African economy took a big hit, recording 253,000 deaths and over 30 million jobs lost since the pandemic began.
“According to the World Bank, the COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to have pushed between 26 to 40 million people into extreme poverty on the continent of Africa.
“Various African countries took decisive measures to contain the spread of the virus and limit its socioeconomic impact.
The president made the remarks at the First Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments in Abuja, with the theme; “Enhancing Africa’s Post-Covid Economic Recovery through Parliamentary Leadership”.
Buhari who was represented at the three-day conference by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said: “Various African countries took decisive measures to contain the spread of the virus and limit its socioeconomic impact.
“Public health interventions were rolled out, several programs and measures were put in place to combat the pandemic such as lockdowns, stimulus packages, financial support to households and MSMEs, and so on. We all achieved some level of progress with those measures.
“In many of our countries, despite relatively weak economic circumstances, the legislature had to sit down with the executive to make some of the most breathtaking budgetary provisions in our histories.
“In Nigeria, our stimulus package was in the order of N2.3 trillion, at the time in excess of $ 6 billion)”, he said.
