COVID-19: Creative Industry Professionals Launch “MaskUp Africa” Campaign,

Professionals in the Creative Industry across the continent have united to launch the “Mask Up Africa” campaign.

The project is led by the Africa Film Academy, the curators of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAAs ) and Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation, in partnership with Joyce Banda Foundation International and many other creative collaborators.

According to Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, the initiative was inspired by a famous quote of Rwanda President, H. E Paul Kegame who said: “African story has been written by others; we need to own our own problems and solutions, and write our story.

She noted that the Mask Up campaign is a response to the present reality and aimed at helping Africa cope with the pandemic “As COVID-19 continues to ravage the world most African countries have been compelled to ease their lockdowns due to economic pressure. We are now in the community transmission phase and that is why most African governments have made it mandatory for everyone to wear masks before leaving home.

“But the fact is that 422 million Africans live below the poverty line of $1 per day-cannot afford a mask-and that is why this campaign is important especially as statistics has shown that wearing of masks do curb the spread of the virus”.

She stated “The objective of the campaign is to raise funds for the procurement and distribution of 52 million masks across Africa with basic donations of at least USD$1 as the unit cost of a mask is about 50cents or N200 or CFA500 as well as raise awareness on the importance of wearing masks to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Adding that clusters of tailors have begun to come together across the Continent as work begins on the production of the masks. “One million masks per country will be produced. This we believe is a way to empower SMES and help build our various internal economies as we invest in small businesses which are the backbone of any country”.

Apart from Osigwe Anyiam Osigwe Foundation, Joyce Banda Foundation international, the other partners include Charles Granvile Company, Femmes et Prisons d’Africa, Pan Africab Film & Arts Festival, AFC Pan African Consortium, Bodyworks Nigeria, The New Mind, Truliving Africa, BBB Media, Mambokadzi African Media & Entertainment, while many others have indicated interest in joining this collective to make the campaign a huge success.

She revealed that anyone can join the campaign simply by wearing a mask, making a 30 second video supporting the campaign and showcasing the importance of mask wearing.

That is not all, you can post picture of yourself wearing a mask on your social media page with the hashtag #MaskUpAfrica. Or you can source for and donate masks that will be distributed by the coalition.

She called on individuals and corporates to key into this campaign as we enter another but critical phase of the fight against Coronavirus.