World Bank grants South Africa $474 million loan to buy COVID-19 vaccines
The World Bank on Tuesday approved a loan of €454.4 million ($474.4 million) to help South Africa fund COVID-19 vaccine purchases.
The bank and South Africa’s national treasury, in a statement, said the country had recorded the most coronavirus cases and deaths in Africa, with over 3.9 million confirmed cases and more than 101,000 deaths.
“This project will retroactively finance the procurement of 47 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by the GoSA (government of South Africa),” the statement said.
South Africa initially struggled to secure vaccines due to limited supplies and protracted negotiations, but it was now well-supplied with doses.
Ismail Momoniat, acting director-general of the treasury, said the loan was part of the government’s efforts to cut debt-service costs by using cheaper funding sources to respond to the pandemic.
As of Monday, just over 50 per cent of South Africa’s adult population of around 40 million people had received at least one vaccine dose.
In recent months the vaccination campaign has slowed, despite efforts to boost take-up.
(Reuters/NAN)
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