Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called on the international community to support Africa’s efforts in combatting terrorism, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as poverty.

Mr Osinbajo who spoke in his virtual address to the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2022, on Friday, raised concerns about the spate of terrorism combatting the continent.

“African countries face a serious threat of terrorism arising from the encroachment of global terror groups and their franchises into Africa.

“It is imperative for the international community to make more robust interventions to clear terrorists from Africa just as it did in the Middle East and other parts of the world because terrorism anywhere is a threat to peace everywhere,” he said.

He said that geopolitical tensions among the great powers should not be allowed to prevent Africa from getting the help it needed to combat terrorism.

The vice president decried the health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19, noting that it had slowed down progress in the continent.

“It is a matter of regret, therefore, that in spite of increased collaboration in terms of sharing knowledge and scientific information around the virus, the world has been unable to arrange a coordinated global response to ensure the availability of vaccines for all.”

He said that like most parts of the world, Africa, with its young population, was beginning to recover as the continent grew by 3.7 per cent last year and was set to grow by 3.8 per cent in 2022.

“And as the pandemic has shown, we live in an inter-related world; so, the international community must not sit by and allow Africa to be overrun by terrorists; be it from the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, or Southern Africa.”

Speaking on climate change, Mr Osinbajo said “it is now common knowledge that African contributes least to common knowledge, has been the most negatively affected by it.

“We must not allow this worrying situation to be compounded further by global inaction, processes, and rules that make it difficult for Africa to adapt to climate change.

“This is why the international community must redeem the pledge it recently reaffirmed at COP26 of providing $100 million dollars financing annually to support climate change efforts in developing countries,” he added.

(NAN)