His Excellency President George M. Weah has returned home from Paris, France, where he had gone to attend the Generation Equality Forum from June 30—July 2, 2021 and to meet with his long-time friend and counter-part, President Emmanuel Macron. As anticipated, President Weah arrived along with donated items to help the nation in the fight against the deadly coronavirus.
On Saturday, July 3, 2021 President Weah and his entourage arrived at the Roberts International Airport (RIA) with a consignment of anti-COVID-19 materials, donating by the French government.
Speaking upon his arrival, President Weah thanked President Macron and expressed his gratitude to him and the people of France for the donation. He assured that the consignment will be disbursed and used in the best way possible.
“I want to express my appreciation to my counterpart, His Excellency Emmanuel Macron, President of France, for this wonderful gift. The people of France are very good people. We are lucky to be friends with France, and we take the France-Liberia friendship very seriously,” President Weah said.
He noted, “We are happy that we can feel the presence of France, and Liberia is very happy, grateful and humble. We say thank you to the French government for giving us all these anti-COVID-19 materials. We will continue to build and strengthen our bilateral relationship and the France-Liberia cooperation.
“We will make sure that every antigen here goes toward the reason it was given us. We will monitor and ensure that it is distributed they way it should be. Thank you very much,” President Weah emphasized.
At the airport, the Hot Pepper noticed sealed boxes in container trucks, said to be containing the anti-COVID-19 drugs and equipment.
While in France and on the sidelines of the Generation Equality Forum, President Weah met with a number of world leaders, including the French President, Emmanuel Macron.
The President’s trip to France has yielded fruitful results, with Liberia benefiting from a huge consignment of needed COVID-19 materials, which the French government has made available. The donated COVID-19 items weigh about 1,172kg and 7.8 M3 (test 1,120kg and 7.8 M3 +Osiris respirators and consumables, 52kg, etc).
The items donated by the French government to the Liberian government include 40,000 (forty thousand) antigenic tests (Abbott-Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device) with several months of validity, and 4-Osiris3 transport respirators (with reserves of consumables for Osiris3).
The items are expected to be effective in the fight against the third wave of the COVID-19. According to the Hot Pepper source, the donated items are worth over US$1 million.