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On Wednesday, June 24, 2020, Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) (www.CorporateCouncilonAfrica.com) hosted day two of its inaugural Leaders Forum– a high level virtual forum to bring together Heads of State, senior USG and African government officials, CEOs and private sector executives, and leaders from multilateral institutions.
Session two, titledResiliency in Action: Economic and Health Innovations in Response to COVID-19 in Africafeatured opening remarks by H.E. Filipe Nyusi, President, Republic of Mozambique and business and government leaders from across the U.S. and Africa tuned in to gain insight onsteps being taken byAfricangovernments and the U.S. and African private sectorto fightthe pandemicand mitigate the effects of theeconomic downturn caused by the pandemic.
During a Fireside Chat moderated by CCA member,Bill Killeen, CEO ofAcrowBridge, President Nyusi noted the importance of having a collaborative approach to address the COVID-19 pandemic. In talking about Mozambique's COVID-19 and post COVID-19 response strategy, President Nyusi said, "Our strategy is to lead the fight against the pandemic by opening the economy to make COVID-19 response management sustainable. Therefore, we are committed to ensuring that Mozambique remains an important destination for business now and after the pandemic."
Day two of the Forum also featured a high-level panel moderated by Witney Schneidman, Senior Advisor for Africa, Covington & Burling LLP.Panelists discussedinnovativesteps they are taking toadapt to the new COVID-19 era andrebuildtheirbusinesses, economies and health systems across the continent.
Farid Fezoua, President and CEO, GE Africaemphasizedthe importance of ensuring the safety of GE employees and customers, "We had to adapt fast and establish new safety protocols particularly for employees on the frontlinesas well as our customers.He mentionedthatthe pandemichas accelerated GE's digital innovations,noting"We hadadopteddigital and remote work for a while,butCOVIDput us in real situationsand leveraging technologytools in this regard has been key.
GregoryRockson,Co-Founder & CEO,mPharmadiscussed howmPharmasent over 800, 000 test kits to countries across the continent by leveraging its supply chain infrastructure in Ghana. He urged that "Africa needs to build the critical infrastructure that is needed to prevent the next pandemic" by establishing regional alliances, where each region specializes to meet different needs across the health supplychain.
Jim Winkler, Vice President and Senior Director, Economic Growth Division, Creative Associatescommended the innovative partnerships that have been established as a result of the pandemic.Hehighlighted howCreative Associates has beensupporting innovationby local SME'sduring the pandemic through the provision of funds to create guarantees, promote piloting, and facilitate export and trade.
Hon. Betty Maina, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development,Kenyahighlightedtheneed for greaterself-sufficiencyin terms ofmedical commodities."It is important that countries buildsomelevel ofsecurityaround medical commodities andmedicalsupplies."she said thatKenyahas prioritizedbuilding capacity in this areasaying, "TheUS-Kenya FTA providesanopportunityfor usto createamuch morepredictableenvironment forinvestment bycompaniesthatsupplythesegoods"
AngelaWasunna, Vice President Global Policy, Corporate Affairs, Pfizer provided closing remarks. In her remarks, Wasunna highlighted Pfizer's work to fight the pandemic in Africa to date. She noted that Pfizer Foundation has committed $40 million in medical and charitable cash grants. Wasunna closed out the session by summarizingkey pointsmade by speakers throughout the session, which include the need for investment in infrastructureandthe need for partnership between the U.S. and Africa in the fight against COVID-19.
Building on the momentum of today's session, thethirdday of the Leaders Forum,entitled "Resiliency in Action:Drivers of Growth in Post-COVID Africa"moderated by Acha Leke, Chairman, McKinsey Africa,will highlightsectors critical to post-COVID economic recovery,such as ICT, finance, oil and gas and agribusiness.
Over the course of the week, CCA will continue to convene U.S. and African government and private sector leaders with the aim of advancing dialogue on resiliency of U.S.-African business engagement to drive economic recovery in a post-COVID era. Registration will remain open all week, and business and government leaders are encouraged toregister here(https://bit.ly/3fTF0q3) to attend the upcoming sessions.
The CCA Leaders Forum is being generously sponsored byAcrowBridge; Afro Tourism; AllAfrica, APO Group; Caterpillar Inc.; Citi; Covington and Burling LLP; Creative Associates; Development Finance International;Flutterwave; General Electric; Lockheed Martin; Procter & Gamble; Rabin Martin; and Visa Inc.
About Corporate Council on Africa (CCA):
Corporate Council on Africa (www.CorporateCouncilonAfrica.com) is the leading U.S. business association focused solely on connecting business interests between the United States and Africa. CCA uniquely represents a broad cross section of member companies from small and medium size businesses to multinationals as well as U.S. and African firms. Learn more atwww.CorporateCouncilonAfrica.com.