Foreign news

2020 APEC meeting to be a hallmark of Asia-Pacific resilience

Published

5 years ago

November 21, 2020

Editor’s note: Hamzah Rifaat Hussain is a former visiting fellow at Stimson Center in Washington and currently serves as an assistant researcher at Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) in Pakistan. The article reflects the author’s opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Malaysia is all set to host the 2020 APEC Economic Leader’s Meeting scheduled for November 20, which will be the first time that the leaders of the 21-member bloc will meet virtually on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting comes at a critical juncture as it coincides with the 2020 G20 Riyadh summit taking place a day later and the signing of the landmark Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) at the Hanoi virtual ASEAN Summit on the 15th of this month.

The upcoming meeting aims at further consolidating the Asia-Pacific’s significance as both an economic hub and a resilient region with a combination of high income, newly industrialized, and developing countries all potentially benefiting from trade deals, regional connectivity prospects, and joint prosperity for the future. The stakes are definitely high with plenty on the agenda.

The host Malaysia is a key economic player in the ASEAN region and has already hosted the first set of technical meetings in Putrajaya in February this year.

The focus of countries in the Pacific Rim such as Chile, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even the United States would be to maintain APEC’s significance as one of the highest level multilateral blocs and oldest forums in the region.

To ensure APEC’s stature, economic leaders are expected to come up with a new vision that will act as the guiding principle of the platform’s work in the next few decades, including the ongoing COVID years. Malaysia’s theme is “Optimizing Human Potential Towards a Resilient Future of Shared Prosperity: Pivot, Prioritize, Progress.” The three Ps will be supplemented with efforts to implement the “Bogor Goals,” which carry historical significance.

In 1994, after the APEC meeting in the town of Bogor in Indonesia, it was announced that the year 2020 would be when the long-term objective of promoting free open trade and investments in the Asia-Pacific region was to materialize and become operational.

Since, then the Bogor Goals have become one of APEC’s flagship initiatives. The goals also make it incumbent upon member economies to reduce barriers to trade and investments and avert scenarios such as a region-wide drop in tariffs, which was witnessed in the 1980s.

In the lead-up to the meeting, the United States, as the most economically powerful member state of the bloc under the Trump administration, was involved in pernicious trade practices such as increasing tariffs with the aim of strangulating the Chinese economy, jeopardizing the entire objective of the Bogor Goals.

It is therefore necessary that this meeting ensures that members implement unilateral policies as well as negotiate bilateral, multilateral and regional agreements provided that they are consistent with the rules of the World Trade Organization.

The successful implementation of the Bogor Goals will become a testament to the worldwide commitment of APEC toward multilateralism as a solution to pressing economic issues of the modern era, which are largely related to the pandemic.

Many of the goals envisioned in 1994 were realized in the 2018 Bogor Goals Progress Report, which details how tariffs had fallen, free trade agreements improving market access were inked prior to RCEP, and customs reforms made it easier for free trade to take place unabated. However, there are areas that need improvement.

APEC members with large agricultural sectors have encountered higher tariffs, which have a direct impact on their current account balances. Similarly, non-tariff measures have also accumulated over the years alongside restrictions on foreign investments in service sectors.

While mitigating the effects of the pandemic on regional economies would be a top priority for APEC states, the emphasis would also need to be placed on the few loopholes which remain as well as the comprehensive implementation of the Bogor Goals in both letter and spirit.

One of the main reasons why the 2020 APEC meeting holds much promise in consolidating the Asia-Pacific region’s status as an engine of growth is because most actions already taken for the past few decades have significantly benefited the region prior to the onset of the pandemic. Trade continuing unabated has resulted in a decline in poverty levels in member states such as China, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

The number of citizens under the internationally recognized poverty line of less than $1.25 per day, prior to 2015 when it was revised to $1.90, has been reduced by half a billion since 1990.

Agility, inclusive economic growth with the result of shared prosperity, will most definitely define the Asia-Pacific region alongside exploring strategies of dealing with pandemic-stricken economies in the upcoming meeting.

All eyes would be on what will be inked down and agreed upon in yet another significant multilateral forum.

Kuala Lumpur also resorted to a digital format on account of the World Health Organization’s declaration that the COVID-19 quagmire was now a global pandemic.

Despite the devastating effects of the virus on the Asia-Pacific economies, the region has not shunned away from exploring prospects of economic revival, robust economic stimulus strategies and pioneering innovation to promote a business-friendly environment.

Furthermore, the region has remain unscathed from geopolitics, with the U.S.- China rivalry – due to undue provocations from the Trump administration in the South China Sea – failing to prevent ASEAN member states from pursuing non-partisanship as a policy in their relationships with Beijing and Washington, D.C

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Financing Health Futures: Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda Turn to Tobacco and Telecom Taxes in Big Push Against Malaria

Published

1 month ago

September 28, 2025

The Gleamer

African leaders, parliamentarians, health experts, and development partners have renewed their commitment to ending malaria by 2030, with a bold call for domestic financing through innovative taxation on tobacco, alcohol, and telecom services to close critical funding gaps.

The discussions took center stage at the Big Push Against Malaria: Harnessing Africa’s Role high-level political engagement in Abuja, where Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda showcased new homegrown financing strategies aimed at reducing dependence on dwindling donor support.

Africa’s Heavy Burden

Malaria remains one of Africa’s deadliest diseases. In 2023, the world recorded 263 million cases and nearly 600,000 deaths, with 94% of cases and 95% of deaths occurring in Africa. Nigeria alone accounted for 26.6% of global cases and 31% of deaths, according to the World Malaria Report 2024. Children under five remain the most vulnerable, making up 76% of deaths.

Despite progress — with Nigeria cutting malaria deaths by more than half since 2000 through insecticide-treated nets, preventive treatments, and the rollout of the new R21 malaria vaccine — leaders warned that global targets are off-track. The World Health Organization’s technical strategy for malaria (2016–2030) has stalled since 2017, with Africa unlikely to meet its 2025 and 2030 milestones without urgent action.

Taxing for Health Futures

The Nigerian Parliament’s Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (ATM) announced plans to fund malaria elimination through “sin taxes” and telecom levies.

According to the House Chair on ATM, Hon. Linda Ogar, a bill is underway to restructure the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) into a multi-disease agency that will address HIV, TB, and malaria.

The new financing mechanism proposes:

Taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and other luxury items

Dedicated levies on telecom airtime and mobile money transactions

A percentage of the nation’s consolidated revenue

“These resources will provide sustainable funding to strengthen health systems and accelerate malaria elimination,” Ogar said, stressing that Africa must stop relying solely on foreign donors. “We cannot continue to take two steps forward and five steps backward. Africa must begin to show the world that we are ready to solve our problems ourselves.”

Similar models are already being piloted in Ghana and Uganda, where levies on mobile money and telecoms are being redirected to finance health interventions. The Abuja meeting urged other African countries to adopt this approach as part of a continental framework for sustainable financing.

Leaders Call for Urgent Action

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, emphasized that while malaria is preventable and treatable, it still kills hundreds of thousands yearly due to funding shortfalls, climate change, insecticide resistance, and humanitarian crises.

“To truly defeat this disease, we must rethink, join forces, and mount a concerted ‘Big Push’. Funding gaps remain a major obstacle, and innovative domestic financing is the way forward,” Salako declared.

From the civil society front, grassroots representatives pledged to act as “foot soldiers”, demanding that communities have a seat at the decision-making table. The World Health Organization, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Aliko Dangote Foundation, and other partners reaffirmed support but stressed the need for stronger political will and local ownership.

Private Sector and Global Support

Representing billionaire philanthropist Aliko Dangote, the Nigeria Malaria Council reiterated that private sector investment must complement government financing. Meanwhile, the Global Fund confirmed it has invested nearly $2 billion in Nigeria’s malaria response and committed an additional $500 million for 2024–2026, including support for local production of malaria drugs.

The Gates Foundation’s Uche Anaowu noted that while progress has slowed, malaria remains beatable:

“Smallpox is the only human disease ever eradicated. The question is — can malaria be next? I believe Africa has both the burden and the opportunity to lead the world in making that happen.”

Financing Health Futures: Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda Turn to Tobacco and Telecom Taxes in Big Push Against Malaria

Abuja, Nigeria – African leaders, parliamentarians, health experts, and development partners have renewed their commitment to ending malaria by 2030, with a bold call for domestic financing through innovative taxation on tobacco, alcohol, and telecom services to close critical funding gaps.

Africa’s Heavy Burden

Taxing for Health Futures

The Nigerian Parliament’s Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (ATM) announced plans to fund malaria elimination through “sin taxes” and telecom levies.

The new financing mechanism proposes:

Taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and other luxury items

Dedicated levies on telecom airtime and mobile money transactions

A percentage of the nation’s consolidated revenue

Leaders Call for Urgent Action

Private Sector and Global Support

The Gates Foundation’s Uche Anaowu noted that while progress has slowed, malaria remains beatable:

“Smallpox is the only human disease ever eradicated. The question is — can malaria be next? I believe Africa has both the burden and the opportunity to lead the world in making that happen.”

The Big Push: From Talk to Action

Speakers acknowledged that Africa has hosted too many malaria meetings without concrete outcomes. This time, however, leaders insisted the Abuja gathering must mark a turning point — from dependency to self-reliance.

With Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda setting the pace on tax-based health financing, the continent now faces the challenge of replicating and scaling up these models.

“Now that Africa is at a critical point, the need for a Big Push against malaria cannot be overemphasized. If we align political will, innovative financing, and community engagement, we can end malaria within our lifetime.”

Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda are pioneering a shift from donor dependence to domestic revenue mobilization via tobacco, alcohol, and telecom taxes — a model hailed as central to financing Africa’s health futures and ending malaria by 2030
Speakers acknowledged that Africa has hosted too many malaria meetings without concrete outcomes. This time, however, leaders insisted the Abuja gathering must mark a turning point — from dependency to self-reliance.

With Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda setting the pace on tax-based health financing, the continent now faces the challenge of replicating and scaling up these models.

“Now that Africa is at a critical point, the need for a Big Push against malaria cannot be overemphasized. If we align political will, innovative financing, and community engagement, we can end malaria within our lifetime.”

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