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Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. /VCG
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday called upon African countries to work together beyond the COVID-19 pandemic to handle any crises that may arise in the future.
Kenyatta made the call during the 38th Session of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee held virtually.
"If we continue working together, we will enhance our capacity to handle future pandemics just as we are doing with COVID-19, and are managing to flatten the curve," he said.
Africa continues its efforts to contain the pandemic that has lasted more than one year, killing more than 128,000 people.
The continent has rallied together behind a proposal by South Africa and India calling for a waiver on vaccine patents which they say would boost production of the life-saving jabs.
In his speech, Kenyatta also noted that NEPAD, which was adopted in 2002 by the African Union as a continental socio-economic development framework, could be used to consolidate expertise and other resources needed to uplift Africa's economy.
"NEPAD is an important tool that can help mobilize resources for the continent to enable it achieve tremendous growth in all sectors," he said.
The Kenyan leader also spoke about the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) saying the instrument's success will depend largely on increased intra-continental connectivity enabled by infrastructure such as roads, rail and telecommunications.
He called on African countries to prioritize infrastructural development so as to enhance the continent's capacity to deal with its socio-economic challenges through trade, people-to-people interactions and sustained economic growth.
