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Business Reporter

AFRICAN leaders are agreed on the need to accelerate vaccine development and pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity within the continent to achieve greater public health security.

The thrust gained momentum this week when several African heads of states, health, finance and trade ministers from across the continent assembled at a virtual global meeting to discuss the status of local pharmaceutical manufacturing on the continent.

They underscored the need to increase local production of vaccines and therapeutics to achieve greater public-health security.

The need for a new public health order in Africa, which promotes domestic vaccine manufacturing, epidemic preparedness and upgraded healthcare systems to meet the needs of the world’s fastest-growing population, was the conference’s main objective.

“The production of vaccines and access to vaccines is an absolute priority,” said Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, in opening remarks on Monday at the start of the two-day virtual meeting, convened by the African Union.

According to the African Development bank (AfDB) Africa consumes approximately one-quarter of global vaccines by volume but manufactures less than one percent of its routine vaccines, with almost no outbreak vaccine manufacturing in place.

The gathering noted that the region lags behind in procuring vaccines amid a global scramble for the medicines among wealthier nations. Thus far, only around two percent of the world’s vaccination against Covid-19 has taken place in Africa.

Representing the AfDB, Solomon Quaynor, vice president private sector, infrastructure and industrialization said: “Vaccine manufacturing, because of its complexity, is not really an entrepreneurial drive but actually an institutional drive.”

The AfDB is working with global and African stakeholders, to articulate a 2030 vision for Africa’s pharmaceutical industry in response to several calls received from African heads of state, who have expressed a strong political will. This vision aligns with its “industrialize Africa” priority strategy.