Pandemic won’t deter AU’s plans, says Pandor

We need to be ready to grapple with the new context, says Naledi Pandor. Despite the adverse effect of Covid-19 on the continent, the African Union (AU) is determined in its unwavering objective of achieving peace, stability and development in Africa, according to International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor.

Addressing delegates this week during a webinar on the pandemic’s socio-economic impact on Africa and the continent’s response, Pandor said the coronavirus remained a threat to Africa and the world.

She said it was a development that affected the AU’s programme to implement the African Continental Free Trade Agreement entered into force last year for 24 countries that had deposited their instruments of ratification.

The free trade agreement is aimed at accelerating intra-African trade and boosting the continent’s trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations.

Pandor said: “The AU remains an organisation that is in the forefront of establishing peace, stability and development on the continent.

“In keeping with its objective of silencing the guns, Covid-19 has become a scar on the face of our continent, reversing gains we have achieved.

“Due to the disruptive nature of the coronavirus, we have seen an undermining of the AU’s current efforts of visibly attaining its objective.

“We are concerned that the date scheduled for implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement has had to be postponed due to the danger of cross-border interaction – a strong part of the agreement.”

An AU Covid-19 strategy had been developed to strengthen disease control. Pandor said many African countries “have directed attention to strengthening health systems so they have the capability for the peak when it arrives”.

Pandor added: “We have been called upon to recover, rebuild and overcome. This means socioeconomic planning must be undertaken as part of the strategy. But we must also have regard for the very challenging complexity accompanying the current crisis.

“We are mindful that there will be global shifts, there will be challenges for Africa and there will be repositioning by global institutions. As Africa, we need to be ready to grapple with the new context.

“World Health Organisation director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said we must also ensure we focus on conflict. I will propose to our colleagues that we establish a task team on conflict in the context of the pandemic because we should not allow an interruption to our objective of silencing guns and achieving conditions for development.”

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