Immediate debt service relief for 19 African countries has been approved by the International Monetary Fund.

The approval is for an initial period of six months. Advocacy groups have called for debt cancellation and relief for African countries to enable some of the most vulnerable countries in the region cope with the worsening pandemic.

Burkina Faso, Chad, Central African Republic and Mozambique are among the countries that will benefit from this relief. These countries can now channel financial resources towards dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday announced debt relief for a number of countries across the world. There were 25 countries on the list, out of which 19 were African nations.

Afghanistan, Haiti, Nepal, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan and Yemen are the non African countries to benefit from the IMF’s debt service relief.