Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: 'No-one will be safe until everyone is safe'
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 22 July 2020
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If Covid-19 spreads across Africa, it could be a catastrophe. Its health systems are already under strain and could buckle under more pressure. Lockdowns have badly affected local economies and pushed millions into poverty. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the chair of GAVI, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. She's also a Covid-19 envoy for the African Union. As the world races to find a vaccine, how will she ensure lower income countries don't get forgotten?
(Photo: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Credit: AFP)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Zainab Bedawi. If COVID-19 spreads across Africa, it will be a human catastrophe. Many fear the continent is not ready to deal with the crisis. Its health systems are already under strain and could buckle under more pressure. Also, lockdowns have badly affected livelihoods, with millions being pushed into poverty. |
| 0:23.9 | My guest is Ungosio-Conjo Iwella, a COVID-19 envoy for the African Union and chair of Gavi, |
| 0:31.1 | the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations. As the world races to find a vaccine, |
| 0:37.0 | how will she ensure that lower-income countries don't get forgotten? |
| 0:41.6 | Dr. Ungosio-Condro Iwella, welcome to Hard Talk. |
| 0:44.9 | Thank you, Zeneb. |
| 0:46.0 | So in April, the World Health Organization was warning that within three to six months, |
| 0:50.9 | there could be 10 million COVID-19 cases on the continent. We're now roughly at about |
| 0:56.5 | 700,000 cases, nearly 15,000 deaths. It looks like an extreme exaggeration. The experts can't get it |
| 1:05.4 | right, can they? Well, Zeneb, we just don't know. According to the Africa CDC in Addis, the cases are accelerating in Africa |
| 1:14.1 | at about 100,000 a week now. So we have not reached a peak on the continent and we don't know the |
| 1:21.6 | trajectory of this pandemic yet. But the fact of the matter is, you may never know because testing is so sparse in Africa. |
| 1:29.8 | I mean, some countries, Ghana, Senegal in the West are doing pretty well because they were |
| 1:33.8 | used to, you know, the Ebola outbreak and so on. But really, you're just completely in the dark. |
| 1:39.4 | I wouldn't say that, Zeneb. I mean, it is true that testing is not where it is supposed to be. We're |
| 1:45.5 | supposed to be testing about 12 million a month and we're doing about 6 million now. So we're |
| 1:50.8 | about halfway where we need to be. But I think that has improved greatly over the months. And I think |
| 1:56.1 | as we get, countries get more test kits and more support. |
| 2:01.4 | This should improve. |
| 2:02.5 | But you're right, that testing is way. |
| 2:04.5 | Well, your own country, Nigeria, is one of the worst affected countries on the continent alongside South Africa, Egypt. |
| 2:11.0 | And you've had about 750, 800 deaths so far in the country. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.