The Pan-African multilateral EXIM bank, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in order to help it member states to procure COVID’19 related medical through the Africa Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP) announces $100 million financial support in the form of pre-approved overdraft limits for each African government, the funding is available to African Governments to acquire the medical supplies. This facility accelerates access to important COVID’19 containment and therapeutic supplies by making up for the gaps in short term funding that African States may be experiencing.
The African Union’s Africa Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Afreximbank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), under the leadership of the African Union Special Envoy for COVID-19 procurements, Mr. Strive Masiyiwa developed AMSP. A technology firm named Janngo operates AMSP and it was developed to facilitate pooled and transparent procurement by African countries. Countries of the Caribbean Community now have access to it services.
A result of continent-wide collaboration, the AMSP aggregates medical supplies and serves as an interface to government in African countries and to NGOs to easily coordinate procurement. Afremixbank allows participating governments and organizations to minimize the upfront cost of obtaining critical supplies by arranging letters of credit and payments guarantees, while payments are made on the platform. Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, said: “We are mindful of the challenges many African economies are facing as they work hard every day to contain the pandemic. With this $100 million overdraft facility, we are ensuring African states are able to rapidly access diagnostic kits and medical supplies at competitive prices from African suppliers and global markets.”
