The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved $20 million in grant funding from the African Development Fund, to build capacity to curb and stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad.

According to a statement by Olufemi Terry, |Communication and External Relations Department AFDB, the operation will provide funding for the project which will also boost resilience of vulnerable communities, including internally displaced persons, refugees and their host communities, in the countries, also known as the Sahel zone’s Group of 5 (G5).

The Project will support epidemiological surveillance and case management capacity; make available medical products for COVID-19 prevention, control and treatment; ensure the deployment of social protection measures in targeted communities, especially, internally displaced persons, refugees and their host communities; and strengthen food and nutrition systems.

An additional $1.372 million of grant funding from the Bank’s Transitional Support Facility, will also be deployed in G5 countries to strengthen the delivery and coordination capacity of the G5 SAHEL Permanent Secretariat and support training on biosecurity and biomedical waste management in the concerned countries.

This extension of grant funding to the G5 Sahel zone countries falls under the framework of the Bank’s COVID-19 response facility of up to $10 billion, which is the institution’s main channel to provide assistance to African countries to cushion the economic and health impacts from the crisis.