On Thursday 20 June, the European Union and its Member States announced a contribution of more than €750 million to the ‘African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator’, launched the same day in Paris. Nearly €220 million comes from the EU budget.
Developed by the ‘Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance’ and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the production accelerator is designed to improve the predictability of demand for vaccines produced in Africa. It is expected to purchase more than 800 million doses produced in Africa over the next decade.
“It will also support the sustainable growth of Africa’s manufacturing base and contribute to the African Union’s ambition to produce most vaccines required by African countries on the continent”, said the European Commission on Thursday.
The project aims to diversify the range of global vaccine suppliers, with the objective of having at least four African vaccine manufacturers entering the market on a sustainable basis. It will complement the European initiative on manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies (‘MAV+’). (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)