Giving Compass' Take:

· This article from allAfrica explains how the philanthropic response to the Ebola outbreak could be used a blueprint to address the current situation.

· How is Africa better prepared to address the COVID-19 pandemic now?

· Here's more about Africa's response to COVID-19.

Philanthropic responses to the COVID-19 crisis in Africa should be guided by the blueprint that Ebola provided in West Africa, said Carl Manlan, chief operating officer of the EcoBank Foundation in Ghana. He was one of three speakers in the final session of the University of Cape Town's (UCT) Africa Month Virtual Symposium.

The 27 to 29 May virtual series provided a platform for a broad range of discussions on African innovations, governance and developmental issues in the fight against the pandemic. It was hosted by the African Union's Peer Review Mechanism in partnership with the UCT Convocation and the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance.

Manlan's co-speakers were Bongiwe Mlangeni, chief executive of the Social Justice Initiative, and Bulelwa Ngewana, executive director of the Open Society Foundation for South Africa. Dr Bhekinkosi Moyo, chair of the African Centre on Philanthropy and Social Investment at the Wits Business School, was the moderator.

Manlan said that vast resources were to boost Africa's response to and recovery from the pandemic. While Chinese technology titan Jack Ma's huge donation to the continent's fight was an enormous gesture of philanthropy, it also illustrated China's levels of industrialisation and ability to shift resources to other countries in need.

But African-based philanthropy lacked not only these resources but the infrastructure to elicit and manage this scale of giving. A different model was needed to harness micro donations using innovative financial technologies.

Read the full article about Africa's response to COVID-19 philanthropy at allAfrica.