Africa: no sign of expected pandemic disaster
Weak healthcare systems, huge slums and a lack of infrastructure: all of these factors could cause the coronavirus pandemic to explode in Africa, experts feared. So far, however, relatively few people have been infected and even fewer have died. And as mortality figures are low, there is no indication that the number of unreported cases exceeds current assessments. Commentators point to the continent's underestimated strengths.
Reason to be proud
Covid-Organics, a remedy developed in Madagascar based on local plants, is already being used in several African countries despite warnings from the WHO. Tidiane Diouwara of the Swiss-based Cipina association for promoting Africa's image expresses her delight in Le Temps:
“This typical 'made in Africa' product, which represents a serious threat for pharmaceutical multinationals, is causing a stir on social networks. Africans see the remedy as proof of their continent's ability to create, innovate, and impose a 100 percent local product. ... This is enough to restore a pride in Africa which has long been flouted by the West. Far from the usual clichés, Africa has a bright future. With an average age of 20, just 1.3 percent of the global Covid-19 cases and an increasingly well-educated scientific community, Africans have every right to believe in their continent.”
A step ahead of Europe
It's about time we corrected our view of Africa, author Rokhaya Diallo writes in Slate:
“Perhaps the time has come to accept the fact that there are many enlightened people living on this continent who are able to take effective decisions where Western countries have proven irresponsible. Africans have developed know-how that other countries would do well to emulate. And this crisis is an opportunity to give preference to locally-devised political instruments which take account of the situation at hand. Africa, which is determined to 'get by on its own', could bring about a paradigm shift in the perception of a continent that has what it takes to be a source of inspiration.”