Chairperson, African Union, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, has appointed former Nigerian Finance Minister, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Rwandan Finance Minister, Mr Donald Kaberuka as Special Envoys of the AU to mobilise international support for Africa’s efforts towards addressing the economic challenges facing African countries owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also appointed in similar capacity are Mr Tidjane Thiam and Mr Trevor Manuel. Ramaphosa said the envoys, who brought with them a  wealth of experience and enjoyed longstanding relationships in the international financial community, would solicit rapid and concrete support as pledged by the G20, the European Union and other international financial institutions.

In a statement yesterday by his spokesperson, Khusela Diko,  he said the global impact of the pandemic in both scale and reach necessitated coordinated international action to capacitate all countries to respond effectively.

The South African president said developing countries would suffer the burden of poverty, inequality and underdevelopment.

He said the appointment of the special envoys would expedite the process of securing economic support to enable countries on the continent to respond swiftly to this grave public health emergency.

Daily Trust