Omicron Variant: Ban on African Countries Unfair, discriminatory, Says AfDB President, Adesina

By Ese Williams

Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the President African Development Bank (AfDB) says the travel ban on some African countries over Omicron,  the new COVID-19 variant  is “very unfair, non-scientific and discriminatory”.

Adesina, who said this through his verified twitter handle @akin_adesina, urged the western countries to lift the travel ban on the African countries.

He queried why travel ban was not placed on  non-African countries where Omicron had also been found.

He said; ” Why single out African countries, singling out African countries is very unfair, nonscientific and discriminatory.

“Global vaccines and travel apartheid against Africa are endangering lives, hurting economies, lives, jobs and livelihoods from a pandemic Africa did not cause. ”

End the apartheid. Respect Africa,” Adesina said.

Following the reports of the newly detected coronavirus variant in South Africa, many developed countries have been shutting their doors against African countries with no records of the variant.

African leaders have been pushing back on the travel bans imposed by Western nations. They contend that the result of South Africa’s openness in sharing news of the variant had led to what they see as punitive measures.

The variant had since been found in many European countries where community transmission has been responsible for the spread. NAN

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