By Kemo Cham
Sierra Leone and two of its West African neighbors Liberia and The Gambia are to share $53.25 million being grant from the Africa Development Bank as budgetary support to help fight Covid-19 in the three countries.
The multi-country grant for COVID-19 response in Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which was approved by the AfDB Board of Directors on Friday, according to a news release issued via the African News Organization, is meant to mitigate the impact of the ongoing viral pandemic in the three countries.
The AfDB Group is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the AfDB, the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF).
With a membership of 54 countries, AfDB is present in 41 countries in the region, with an external office in Japan.
The multi-country grant falls under the framework of the Bank’s COVID-19 Response Facility of up to $10 billion, which is the institution’s main channel to cushion African countries from the economic and health impacts of the pandemic.
A breakdown of the grant indicates that Sierra Leone is to receive UA 18 million, being an ADF grant, while The Gambia and Liberia will each receive ADF grant of UA 5 million and a TSF grant of UA5 million, respectively.
All three beneficiary countries, classified as countries in transition, having been struck disasters, which exposed them to challenges relating to macroeconomic stability, fragility, competitiveness and growth. Sierra Leone and Liberia are two of the countries most affected by the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic, which they are still struggling to recover from. The Gambia is recovering from the effect of over 20 years of dictatorship which ended in December 2016 with the departure of former strongman, Yahya Jammeh.
All three countries are currently contending with rising cases of Covid-19, having recorded their first cases of the viral disease in March.
As of 22nd July, there were 146 confirmed cases in The Gambia; 1,114 cases in Liberia; and 1,731 cases in Sierra Leone.
The AfDB said direct beneficiaries of programmes financed under this grant include vulnerable female-headed households, orphans, and school-going children, according to the news dispatch.
The business community and targeted small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, will benefit from economic resilience support, while the population at large will be cushioned against the effects of the pandemic, it added.
Copyright © 2020 Politico Online
