The Chairperson of the African Union (AU), President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, has appointed Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr Donald Kaberuka, Mr Tidjane Thiam and Mr Trevor Manuel as Special Envoys of the African Union to mobilise international support for Africa’s efforts to address the economic challenges African countries will face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A statement issued by AU’s chairperson said the Special Envoys will be tasked with soliciting rapid and concrete support as pledged by the G20, the European Union and other international financial institutions.
The appointment of the special envoys, the AU chair said, would expedite the process of securing economic support to enable countries on the continent to respond swiftly to this grave public health emergency. President Ramaphosa said the envoys brought with them a wealth of experience and enjoyed longstanding relationships in the international financial community.
President Ramaphosa said: “In the light of the devastating socio-economic and political impact of the pandemic on African countries these institutions need to support African economies that are facing serious economic challenges with a comprehensive stimulus package for Africa, including deferred debt and interest payments.
“The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been global in both scale and reach, and this necessitates coordinated international action to capacitate all countries to respond effectively, but most particularly developing countries that continue to shoulder a historical burden of poverty, inequality and underdevelopment.
“The sentiment expressed in two recent letters written to the G20 by a group of world leaders and a team of esteemed economists underscore the importance of bolstering health systems in poorer countries; this can only be done with the support of the international community,” President Ramaphosa said.
Okonjo-Iweala, an internationally respected economist and development expert, served two terms as Nigeria’s Minister of Finance. She has also served as Managing Director of the World Bank.
Kaberuka, an economist and former President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB), was former Finance Minister of Rwanda. In 2016, he was appointed as AU’s Special Envoy on sustainable financing and funding for Peace in Africa.
Manuel was the longest-serving Minister of Finance in the Republic of South Africa and formerly headed the country’s National Planning Commission. In 2018, he was appointed as an Investment Envoy by President Ramaphosa to engage domestic and international investors as part of the country’s national investment drive.
Thiam, a banker and businessman, was a Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse and also served as Chief Financial Officer and CEO of Prudential. He also has a background in management consulting and worked for McKinsey and Company.
“The African Union is immensely encouraged by the support that has been extended by the international community thus far. It is an affirmation that as nations of the world, we are all in this together. We must now focus on efforts to marshal every resource at our disposal to ensure that this pandemic is contained, and does not result in the collapse of already ailing economies and financial systems on the continent,” President Ramaphosa said.
