Abuja (AFP)
The 16 member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided on Saturday to harmonize the prices of PCR tests to detect Covid-19, in order to "facilitate travel" in the region.
"The prices of PCR tests are different from one country to another, and we had to harmonize all this, give better visibility, in particular to travelers who sometimes find themselves lost in preventive measures for traveling", indicated Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, President of the ECOWAS Commission, during a press point after the ordinary video-conference session of the organization.
"As a regional community, we must harmonize our policies, our actions and our measures", he stressed, indicating that the member countries were committed to now charge the tests the equivalent of 50 US dollars, in their respective currencies.
Some countries such as Ghana or Nigeria charge sums of up to $ 150, which discourage many travelers, who have to multiply tests on departure and arrival.
The chairman of the committee also announced that a "Covid vaccine fund" would be set up within ECOWAS, and funded by member governments but also by traditional partners.
"This will allow us to purchase grouped vaccines, and to have a better chance of availability (of laboratories) and also to benefit from more competitive costs", underlined Mr. Kassi Brou.
Many countries in the area, especially the less populated, have not yet made an announcement on their vaccination strategy and a potential arrival of vaccines.
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa with 200 million inhabitants, hopes to receive 100,000 doses by February thanks to the Covax mechanism, set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Alliance for vaccines (Gavi).
But larger-scale vaccination campaigns should start much later.
Mali, for example, announced Friday that it wants to buy more than 8 million doses and start vaccination in April.
© 2021 AFP