MATERA, Italy — Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan has highlighted the plight of the African countries reeling from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. "Everyone knows the extent of the impact of the corona pandemic on various countries around the world. The pandemic's fallout has been severe and multifaceted on the African continent, impeding progress in achieving sustainable development goals in African countries and causing large and lasting damages," Prince Faisal said. He made the remarks during a special session on Africa on the sidelines of the meeting of foreign and development ministers of the G20 here on Tuesday. Prince Faisal underlined the importance of the continued global efforts and cooperation to overcome the impact of the pandemic over the world in general and in the African continent in particular. He pointed out Saudi Arabia's Presidency of G20 last year set many goals in terms of achieving prosperity, security and stability around the world, and specifically in the African continent. He referred to the statement of the G20 countries at the emergency extraordinary leaders' summit called by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman in March 2020 that strengthening the health system in Africa is imperative for the integration of the global health system. He hoped that the leaders would strengthen capacity-building and provide special assistance to communities most at risk, and mobilize humanitarian and development funding for those countries. "The G20 launched for the first time, under the presidency of Saudi Arabia, the joint framework initiative to address debt, including the initiative to suspend debt service payments, as this historic move provided urgent liquidity to the poorest countries around the world, including 38 African countries that received more than $5 billion," Prince Faisal remarked. He referred to remarks made by Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman during his participation in the Summit on the financing of African economies, which was held in Paris in May this year underlining the importance of supporting development in the countries of the African continent and promoting investment in them. The Saudi foreign minister also pointed out that Saudi Arabia sponsored a number of peace agreements to end wars and conflicts in the African continent, emphasizing the Kingdom's leading and pioneering role regionally and internationally in spreading the values of love, security and peace. He called on the world's largest economies to double their support for development efforts in the African continent by supporting youth and women, providing investments and job opportunities, developing education and training opportunities, and working together with these countries to enhance food and water security in them, referring to what the Kingdom launched during its presidency.
