In an interview with France 24, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf raised concerns about the economic consequences of COVID-19 for Africa:

“The biggest challenge is yet to come, as in the case of Ebola – once the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, the effect on the economy is going to be awesome. Liberia has not fully recovered from the destruction of the economy.”

She said that debt cancellation for Africa should be considered, noting that the African Union has already designated specialists to appeal to the international community on cancellation. However, she acknowledged that the ‘fiscal space’ for all countries to help themselves and each other will be made smaller by the crisis.

Madam Sirleaf also implored world leaders not to overlook the fight against other deadly diseases like malaria:

“Please pay attention to malaria, it kills. It needs the financial support, it needs the technical support, it needs the vaccine, it needs eradication. Please, let’s fight the virus COVID-19, and let’s also fight malaria.”

Watch the full interview below.