Johannesburg - South Africa’s Tafari Capital has launched a Covid-19 management app in collaboration with the Lesotho government.
The Citizen App, which was designed to empower and strengthen the two African nations’ efforts to end coronavirus transmissions, has already registered more than 50 000 users since it was launched three weeks ago.
Dr Thabo Lehlokoe, the chairperson of Tafari Capital, a group of black professionals and entrepreneurs with varying skills and experience in South Africa, says that this number is steadily growing.
“The Citizen App is a tool that government and businesses can use to open up economic activity in the country, including movement across the borders safely, by identifying people who have vaccinated fully and those who are unvaccinated but have negative Covid-19 tests to openly engage in economic activity,” he explained.
Lehlokoe explained that the Citizen App functions as a government-led Covid-19 one-stop shop for all related information.
“Here, users can access their vaccine certificates, Covid-19 test results, heat maps, surveys, test sites, clinics and hospitals, patient management, resource management and social and economic tools.”
He said that in the events module, they will also introduce a ticketing system which will incorporate Covid-19 protocols.
This includes automatically limiting the number of customers to a function, automatically checking vaccination status on ticket purchases and the ability to pay for the venue on the app.
“The pandemic may be low now, but Covid-19 is by no means over,” Lehlokoe believes.
“In fact, in other countries the infection numbers are slowly ticking up and we have been informed that a new variant has been identified in South Africa and other countries.”
Lehlokoe believes that the increase in coronavirus infections in some parts of the world will mean that there are still Covid-19-related restrictions on travel, and the key to being allowed to travel is to have a valid vaccine certificate and or a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
“This is where the Citizen App comes in,” he said.
“Everyone who enters Lesotho is checked for this information and it forms part of data that informs the country’s health records.”
He added that the app also supports the free flow of goods and people, which directly impacts the economy.
“The country is grateful for this innovative donation as the application will help eliminate previously experienced errors in monitoring vaccination data. It will also play a huge role in assisting our country’s economic recovery efforts, as the country still faces challenges, exacerbated by Covid-19,” Lesotho’s Health Minister Semano Sekatle said.
Tafari Capital donated the app to Lesotho in response to their government’s calls to fight the pandemic.
“Since Tafari Capital had already developed the Citizen App. We offered it as a contribution to the fight against Covid-19 in Lesotho,” Lehlokoe said.
He said that it was also offered to the South African government, but they chose not to take it.
“The Lesotho Ministry of Health accepted our offer in May 2020 and we then proceeded to customise the solution, working together with Nacosec to respond to country-specific requirements.”
The Lesotho government has, among other measures, mandated the use of Covid-19 certificates to prove vaccination, recovery, or a recent negative test.
The app will help provide access to secure digital Covid-19 vaccine certificates and test results, location of places for testing and emergency contact information to all who enter the country.
“The app will help accelerate free movement of commodities and people, which will improve the country’s trade. This forms part of Tafari Capital’s efforts to continue to strive to address socio-economic challenges to help create opportunities in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region,” Lehlokoe said.
“Innovation that functions to support trade in Lesotho and any of the 55 African Union nations is important in the success of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). As a Union nation member, improved trade in Lesotho helps accelerate intra-African trade and boosts Africa’s trading position in the global market.”
The Citizen App is free to download on www.citizenapp.co.ls for Android, Apple and Huawei users.