Could quality problems unravel China’s coronavirus mask diplomacy in Africa?
- Kenya’s health minister says some personal protective equipment imported from China fails quality tests
- If African nations start to judge Chinese equipment as inferior, it could damage the mask diplomacy approach, says US professor
China has defended itself against claims that personal protective equipment and medical masks imported or donated into Kenya were below standard or defective.
This is after Kenya’s health minister, Mutahi Kagwe, raised concerns over the quality of personal protective gear and masks after they were subjected to quality checks.
The Chinese embassy in Nairobi said the products underwent strict quality checks before they were exported to African countries.
“All supplies donated by the Chinese government to Kenya have gone through strict quality testing and get a valid certification,” embassy spokeswoman Huang Xueqing said a day after Kenya said it had banned the importation of coronavirus protective gear from China after failing the quality test.
Health minister Kagwe on Sunday said during a tour to Kisumu, a city in Western Kenya, he had taken some Chinese PPE to the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) for testing but they failed the quality test.