The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, on Sunday berated the United Kingdom for placing African countries on travel ban over COVID-19 variant, Omicron. Adesina noted that countries outside Africa have also recorded cases of Omicron, yet those countries were not banned by the British government.
Adesina in a statement declared: “now that Omicron has been found in many non-African and developed countries, why are travels from those countries not banned? Why single out African countries?
“Singling out African countries is very unfair, non-scientific, and discriminatory. Lift bans on African countries!
“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!”
The United Kingdom had on Saturday announced the inclusion of Nigeria in the country’s red list over Omicron alert with effect from Monday. The action was to contain the spread of the virus into the country through travelers from Nigeria.
Other African countries on the UK travel ban list include South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, etc.
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid in the announcement on Saturday emphasized that “a significant number” of Omicron cases have been linked to travel with Nigeria.
According to him, “There are 27 cases already in England and that’s growing and Nigeria now is second only to South Africa in terms of linked cases to Omicron.”