 Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliament have called on governments in the continent to revive the healthcare sector in order to deal with pandemics. They say the enactment of enabling laws in the sector will better assist the continent in recovering from the devastating effects of COVID-19. Emmanuel Ehigene reports. The world today has not fully recovered from the devastating effect of COVID-19 and its attendant consequences and the socioeconomic life of the people. In Africa, the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019 caught many countries unawares. From reliable statistics, the World Health Organization says 11.5 million Africans have been infected with the virus with about 253 deaths recorded. Over 26 million fell into extreme poverty with 30 million losing their jobs through the pandemic. To this end, inaugural meeting of the Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliament was hosted by Nigeria. The chief host and speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Femi Bajabyamila, while addressing the conference, raised an alarm over the rising state of insecurity in the continent, which he says is a threat to democracy in Africa. He further lamented the devastating effect of COVID-19 on the continent. Across the continent, democracy is under threat and in retreat. From Sudan to Mali, Guinea to Chad, the later governments have been used by military junters over turning years of progress and the hopes of millions. Even in the places where elected governments are still in charge, public faith in the government institutions is at an all-time low. When citizens lose confidence that a democratic government can meet their expectations. Bajabyamila also charged parliaments in Africa to guarantee the continent's recovery growth in the aftermath of the pandemic, using enabling laws to achieve this. I'm very glad that despite predictions of disaster, Africa, for the most part, has managed this disease with evenness and the actions of many governments across the continent works to keep the worst outcomes from manifesting on our shores. Other speakers at the event want African ladies and heads of parliament across the continent to be prepared for further pandemics by strengthening the health care sector or the aid of technology. Africa's post-COVID recovery must leverage the African continent of free trade area. The AFCTA is a unique opportunity also to consolidate Africa's enormously large market. And we will create and recover millions of jobs, reduce Africa's import dependency, boost intra-African trade and exports, and strengthen intra-African cross-border ties and trade relations. The trajectory of economic recovery from the pandemic is shaped by access to vaccines. And others, the divergence between the developed economies and the developing economies is stark. They said Africa developing its own vaccine source to rely less on foreign donations will help the continent a great deal.