The number of COVID-19 infections in Africa surpassed the 8.8 million mark on Thursday even as the continent continues its fight against the virus.

According to data published by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Friday evening, the continent had recorded 8,804,066 cases with 224,417 deaths.

South Africa remains to be the hardest-hit country by the pandemic in Africa, having registered 2,870,329 infections with 90,060 fatalities. These tallies represent 32.60 per cent of the continent's cases and 40.13 per cent of its deaths.

No other African country has recorded COVID-19 infections surpassing the one million mark.

Morocco's 951,092 cases are the second highest, followed by the 719,006 cases reported by Tunisia.

The continent is on high alert following the emergence of the new Omicron variant, which has now spread to nearly 60 countries around the world.

African countries have joined the rest of the world in vaccinating their populations in efforts to contain the virus. The continent however still lags behind other regions in the inoculation exercise, with its leaders blaming this on vaccine inequity.