South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as chairperson of the African Union (AU), was on Thursday scheduled to hold a teleconference with the members of the AU Bureau to coordinate the continent’s approach to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Ramaphosa chairs the bureau which also comprises Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi, Mali’s Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as well as AU Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat. 

“The consultation is aimed at developing a common response of the African Union on containing the spread of the coronavirus and mitigating its impact on the people and economies of Africa,” the Presidency in Pretoria said in a statement. 

The meeting will also look at collaboration with the United National secretary general in his efforts to address the pandemic, globally. 

“AU organs, partners and philanthropists are key players to the AU and their role will form part of the discussions, with the objective of optimising on their resources as part of a wider campaign to mobilise resources, especially for poor countries with infrastructural challenges,” the Presidency said.

Later on Thursday, Ramaphosa is scheduled to participate in a G20 Leaders virtual meeting from Pretoria. 

According to the Johns Hopkins University in the United States, by Thursday more than 471 000 people were infected by the virus globally, while over 21 000 had died. The majority of the deaths were in Europe. 

Written by Bernadette Versfeld, a Partner at Webber Wentzel