Addis Ababa — The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Mr. Carlos Lopes has welcomed the decision by the International Monetary Fund - IMF that will see the three countries worst hit by the Ebola epidemic receive grants totaling $100million. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will use the funds to cover the cost of servicing their debt, according to the IMF.

Mr. Lopes noted that this response comes in the wake of recent calls for cancellation of the external debt of the affected countries by African leaders. On 30 January, the Peace and Security Council, stressed, "the need for particular attention to continue to be paid to the impact of the epidemic on post-conflict reconstruction and socio-economic development efforts in the affected countries." The Summit called for initiatives towards external debt cancellation.

Mr. Lopes has been on the forefront of this call, following visits to the Ebola-affected countries in 2014. The visits led to his commissioning a study on the socio-economic impact of Ebola and a case for debt cancellation for the three Ebola-affected countries, which was launched by the Economic Commission for Africa in December 2014.

Mr. Lopes notes that the countries need debt cancellation as it would go a long way towards post-conflict reconstruction and peace-building activities in the affected countries.