Ethiopia PM secures big coronavirus support for Africa from Jack Ma
Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday announced that he had secured a continent wide support coronavirus support from Chinese businessman Jack Ma.
Abiy said the package which was to benefit all African countries will comprise testing kits, masks and guideline books on treatment methods.
“Great appreciation to Jack Ma for partnering with Ethiopia to distribute 10-20k corona testing kits per country; more than 100k masks for each African country, and guideline books developed recently on how to treat patients with the virus,” he wrote in one of three tweets.
It remains to be known the exact testing kit the PM is referring to given that currently only laboratory tests are being used. The Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal has, however, hinted that it would soon roll out a rapid test kit.
Jack Ma, the Ali Baba founder had recently donated a million face masks to the United States as part of measures to help deal with the spreading virus.
In November last year, Ma was in Addis Ababa where he met with Abiy. The two parties discussed the launch of the Electronic World Trade Platform in Ethiopia.
The platform was to promote Ethiopia’s export products to the global market and open the door for small enterprises to become competitive.
The visit followed a 2018 meeting between the Abiy and Ma at the Alibaba Headquarters in Hangzhou. In January 2019, they met at the World Economic Forum in Davos and discussed a potential partnership to build a tech city in Ethiopia.
Liberia's first coronavirus case involves official returning from Swiss trip
Liberia
The Liberian government through the Ministry of Information has confirmed the index case in the West African country.
A statement issued by Minister Eugene Lenn Nagbe said the patient was Nathaniel Blama, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who tested positive on Monday morning having returned from Switzerland on Friday.
The announcement was made on state-run radio and according to reports sparked panic in the capital, Monrovia. A similar situation played out in Ethiopia and Kenya when index cases were recorded. People rushed to buy especially hand sanitizers and face masks.
The panic comes despite the minister’s assurance that measures are in place to control the spread of the virus. Authorities say contact tracing was underway to identify persons that had come into contact with the patient since his entry into the country.
The only West African countries holding out for now include Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
— Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani)
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