The International Monetary Fund has approved immediate debt service relief for 19 African countries for an initial period of six months to enable them to channel financial resources towards dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Burkina Faso, Chad, Central African Republic and Mozambique are among the countries that will benefit from this relief.

Others are Benin, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Debt cancellation and relief for African countries are among measures that have been called for by advocacy groups to enable some of the most vulnerable countries in the region cope with the worsening pandemic.