By Adhere Cavince

This month marks one year since the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against COVID-19 was staged. At the time, China was making significant strides in its epidemic control with economic activity resuming across the country. On the other hand, countries on the African continent were beginning to experience the economic pressure as a result of the public health measures to cut the transmission of the disease. There were no vaccines in sight.

The biggest concern for many people in Africa was how to manage the economic fallout from the global health crises while cushioning the population from the virus. A raft of suggestions was made at the virtual event, to guide Sino-Africa ties through the storms of the pandemic. Looking back, it is clear that substantial progress has been in joint efforts to contain the pandemic.

At the summit, Chinese leader Xi Jinping repeated his promise that once the development and deployment of COVID-19 vaccine is completed in China, African countries will be among the first to benefit. So far, China has delivered more vaccines to Africa than the global vaccines platform for developing countries, Covax. According to Development Reimagined, of the 38.1 million doses so far administered in the continent, China has supplied 36%, compared to Covax’s 34%. China has also donated over 5 million doses of vaccines to 27 African countries.

Besides the donations and direct purchases of vaccines, an expanded industrial cooperation will see Egypt produce the first two million doses of the Sinovac vaccine this month. This will increase access of the commodities in the continent by reducing transport and logistics cost while serving as prototype for additional partnership towards pandemic recovery.

During the June 2020, event, African leaders called for greater debt relief and suspension arrangements by creditor countries and international financial institutions. China has since renegotiated and cancelled loans to different African countries as a way of helping the beneficiaries survive the harsh economic realities of the pandemic. Within the G20 led Debt Service Suspension Initiative, China has so far extended debt relief to developing countries worth a combined $2.1 billion – the highest compared to other G20 countries. A total of 16 African countries had benefited from China’s G20 DSSI relief by February 2021, according to China Africa Research Initiative.

The pandemic struck when Africa was gearing to launch the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA); an ambitious initiative aiming to boost global economic competitiveness of the continent. A key plank in the implementation of AfCFTA is infrastructure connectivity. Chinese contractors continued to implement a number of projects across Africa. This, not only expedited completion timelines of critical infrastructure such as Kenya’s Lamu Port but also provided jobs to thousands of African youth, even as the pandemic continued to wipe out millions of jobs in the continent.

Despite these positive developments, Africa still remains at a critical point with regards to the Covid-19 pandemic. Only 1.5 % of the continent’s population has so far been fully vaccinated against the disease. More deadly and highly transmissible variants of the virus continue to be discovered in different countries. With case fatality ratio which is higher than the global average, Africa could comparatively see more people die from the virus than in other parts of the world. The increasing economic hardships experienced by millions across the continent and decision of India to ban export of the oxford astraeneca vaccine have created additional vulnerabilities that demand quick and decisive response.

With two of its vaccines now approved by the World Health Organization, China has greater headroom to power vaccination in Africa. The WHO listing also grants African countries the space to directly place orders with Chinese manufacturers.  Beijing also has expanded grounds to fulfill its 10 million vaccine doses pledge to Covax.

Another key issue that should inform discussions in the lead up to the 2021 Forum on China Africa Cooperation is economic reconstruction. Africa requires additional investments in its productive sectors. The Belt and Road provides an inclusive approach to Sino-Africa cooperation spanning connectivity, policy coordination, financial inclusion, and people to people ties. By leveraging the progress so far consolidate while setting new targets, Africa and China could achieve sustainable and mutually reinforcing economic benefits during and after the pandemic.

The writer is a scholar of international relations with a focus on Africa-China relations. Twitter: @Cavinceworld