ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) COVID-19 Response Fund set to launch 300 million U.S. dollars fundraising to help tackle the effects of COVID-19 in Africa, the AU Commission disclosed on Saturday.
The AU COVID-19 Response Fund, which is a vehicle for the implementation of the continental strategy to combat the pandemic, on Saturday disclosed an upcoming fundraising event that envisaged to raise 300 million U.S. dollars, which will be used to help tackle pandemic.
The fundraiser webinar, which will jointly be hosted by the AU Commission in collaboration with Afrexim Bank on Oct. 24, I expected to "inform and solicit support and contributions from the African private sector, public and other partners, in order to ensure that the continent can respond effectively to this unprecedented global crisis," the pan African bloc disclosed in a statement issued on Saturday.
The AU, which noted that the continental anti-COVID-19 initiative has raised 44 million, also stressed that the virtual fundraiser event is part of a program of activities that aimed to raise awareness of the AU COVID-19 Response Fund.
"We need your help to raise a further 300 million U.S. dollars to tackle the immediate effects of COVID-19 in Africa," the AU said.
According to the AU, the main objectives of the fund are to mitigate the social, economic and humanitarian impact of COVID-19 in all African countries.
It also envisaged boosting "the capacity of the Africa CDC to support response to public health emergencies across the continent," as well as support the procurement and distribution of essential COVID-19 medical supplies.
The high-level continental anti-COVID-19 fundraiser event is expected to be attended by Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, as well as the current chairperson of the AU.
The event, which will feature interventions from a number of African leaders as well as international artists, will be broadcast in the AU working languages that are Arabic, English, French and Portuguese.
The two-hour program will also feature African celebrities, government leaders as well as frontline health workers, it was noted.
As of Saturday, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent has reached 1,622,455, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
The Africa CDC, a specialized healthcare agency of African Union Commission, said in a statement that the number of deaths due to illnesses related to the pandemic reached 39,584 as of Saturday afternoon.
The Africa CDC said the number of people who have recovered from the infectious virus across the continent has reached 1,337,964 so far.
The most COVID-19 affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. Enditem