PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Africa: Coronavirus (21 April 2020)

The UK is playing a leading role in the global response to COVID-19, working with international partners to slow its spread. We are using UK aid to mitigate new health, humanitarian and economic risks across Africa and have pledged £744 million of UK aid globally to end the pandemic. The UK continues to work with partners, including the United Nations, to ensure aid reaches those most in need. We have provided health experts in key African countries and organisations. This includes a team at the WHO’s AFRO regional office in Brazzaville.

The UK is also providing up to £150 million to the International Monetary Fund’s Catastrophe Containment Relief Trust to help developing countries, including many in Africa, meet their debt repayments so that they can focus available resources on tackling COVID-19. The UK has worked closely with G20 creditors and the Paris Club on a temporary suspension of debt repayments from countries that request relief, further boosting response capacities.

Finally, the UK is urgently redirecting existing programmes right across Africa to respond to COVID-19, prioritising health, humanitarian, growth and trade as well as education and nutrition, recognising that these components are vital for response and longer term recovery.