Covid-19: Trump calls Nigeria's Buhari to pledge support
What you need to know:
- The telephone conversation was at the request of the American president.
- It's the third such call by Trump after he recently reached out to Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa.
US President Donald Trump has contacted Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari over the Covid-19 pandemic, the third such call after reaching out to Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa.
The telephone call came as Nigeria’s cases rose to 1,532 with 44 deaths, while the US crossed the grim 1 million mark for confirmed cases.
The US president engaged Mr Buhari in a telephone conversation on April 28 to pledge his country’s support to Nigeria in the fight against the pandemic.
Nigeria’s presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said Trump promised to supply Nigeria with ventilators.
The two leaders commiserated with each other on the fatalities caused by the pandemic. While the death toll in America exceeds 59,000, the highest in the world, Nigeria has recorded 44.
According to Mr Adesina, the telephone conversation was at the request of the American president.
Mr Adesina noted that the leaders shared ideas on how to successfully combat the health emergency and negative impacts of the pandemic on the world’s economy.
The Nigerian President lauded his American counterpart for the various initiatives adopted by his government to contain further spread of the virus across the United States.
He indicated Nigeria’s readiness to cooperate with the United States to fight Covid-19.
Mr Buhari briefed Trump on Nigeria’s proactive measures to contain the spread of the virus and also welcomed the valuable friendship between the two countries, as well as expressing appreciation to Trump for reaching out.
Meanwhile, Nigeria is targeting to test two million people in the next three months.
Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), stated that the plan was in line with President Buhari‘s directive on aggressive contact tracing, testing and treatment.
In its emergency financial assistance, the Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on April 28, 2020 approved Nigeria’s request for $3.4 billion under the fund’s Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).
The money is to support Nigeria’s efforts in addressing the severe economic impact of Covid-19 and the glut that resulted from the fall in oil prices.
Nigeria’s Finance minister and economic planning, Zainab Ahmed, confirmed that the country is also expecting $3.5 billion loans support from the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
