In an interview with France 24 from his home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he is placed in quarantine following the contamination of one of his collaborators, the president of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, confirms having been tested negative at Covid-19 and ensures "to be well", while his collaborator "recovers" at the hospital.

Faced with the pandemic that is progressing on the continent, the Chadian diplomat calls on the international community to act "beyond good intentions" and to bring massive support to Africa, estimating that between "100 and 150 billion dollars" are needed immediately. "The African continent needs to be supported quickly and with liquidity, to allow first of all to face the health aspect of the crisis, but also to face the humanitarian situation".

He hopes that the pandemic will not be "the funeral oration" of multilateralism, but rather that it will be "transformed into a sort of hymn to multilateralism and solidarity".

"Very difficult" confinement in Africa

Asked about the words of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who fears "millions of deaths in Africa" ​​because of the health crisis, the diplomat believes that this assertion is rather to be taken as a warning, "a very strong ", so that the States take the measure of the danger.

Moussa Faki Mahamat also explains that generalized confinement is a very complicated solution to implement in Africa, especially in big cities. "Containment is a recipe that cannot be applied everywhere and in the same way, we must take into account the sociological, economic and cultural realities of each other," he said on France 24. " On our continent, it would be very difficult to apply full containment. "

>> See our interview with the Africa director of the WHO: "In Africa, the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic is very rapid and very worrying"

Finally, Moussa Faki Mahamat fears that the jihadist groups operating in the Sahel and in the Lake Chad region will take advantage of the global health crisis to multiply their violent actions. Regarding Libya, he admits that all mediations are frozen for the moment and that the reconciliation forum wanted by the African Union is not on the agenda for the moment.

>> To see: "At the summit in Addis Ababa, the African Union wants to" silence arms "in Africa"

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