As of February 9, 2022, confirmed cases of COVID-19 from 55 African countries reached 11,004,889 while over 218,397,031 vaccinations have been administered across the continent. Reported deaths in Africa reached 242,151 and 9,946,755 people have recovered. South Africa has the most reported cases 3,626,014 and 96,289 people died.
Other most-affected countries are Morocco (1,149,582), Tunisia (950,575), Ethiopia (466,840), Libya (456,276), Egypt (444,117) and Kenya (322,214). The statistics are compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University using data from the World Health Organization and other international institutions as well as national and regional public health department.
Meanwhile, Sub-Saharan Africa still has fewer vaccines for its people. Delivering more inoculations to the region deserves top priority. Amongst the major hurdles to overcome is the poor trade and logistics infrastructure across Africa. The World Bank's Logistics Performance Index, a good proxy for transport and distribution logistics, puts Africa at 2.5 on average. The score ranges from 1 to 5, the highest score being an indicator of better performance.
Africa's score trails all major regions of the world in six key categories of logistics performance, including timeliness and tracking. For more than a decade, its negative impact on the region's trade has been well documented. For instance, delays at customs are estimated to add 10 percent to the cost of imported goods, which is higher than the average impact of tariffs in some cases.