BioNTech signed a memorandum with Rwanda and Senegal on Tuesday 26 October in Kigali. The content of this document relates to the construction of a production plant for Covid-19 mRNA vaccines in each of these countries. These units will be used to help African countries in need.
To address the problem of vaccines against the covid-19 pandemic, two African countries, Rwanda and Senegal, are embarking on the production of mRNA vaccines in the near future.
“Rwanda is committed to working with the African Union, the European Union, BioNTech and other partners in the technology sector to implement the contents of this memorandum as soon as possible,” says Dr Daniel Ngamije, Rwanda’s Minister of Health.
“These vaccines will be exported mainly to African countries that need them,” says Minister Dr Daniel Ngamije.
The Rwandan mRNA covid-19 vaccine manufacturing plant will market 50 million products per year. “Production will be adjusted according to needs,” says Dr Daniel Ngamije, Rwanda’s Minister of Health.
In the Land of a Thousand Hills, construction work will start in July 2022 in the Kigali special economic zone. The implementation period will be two years.
Rwanda will need a budget estimated at over 100 million Euros. The European Investment Bank, the Rwandan government and other partners will be involved in the implementation of this project.
There is no need to worry about this investment when covid-19 is defeated. The technology used for the production of the covid-19 vaccines can be used to produce other vaccines such as malaria and tuberculosis. “As soon as these vaccines, which are still at the study stage, are approved for large-scale use, they will be produced in this infrastructure,” says Dr Daniel Ngamije, Rwanda’s Minister of Health.
The partnership with BioNTech will not be limited to the construction of this plant. It will also extend to the deployment of a competent team from Europe. Human capacity building is also a priority.
Unwavering commitment from both sides
Rwanda reaffirmed its collaboration for the rapid transfer of knowledge, skills and resources. The same is true of the European Union.
“The European Union (EU) is committed to making this initiative a success,” says Jutta Urpilainen, Commissioner for International Partnership in the EU-27.
The same determination to make this initiative a success is on the BioNTech side.
“Together we will develop a regional network of manufacturers to support access to vaccines made in Africa and for Africans,” promises Ugur Sahin, managing director and co-founder of the Mainz Germany-based biotech company. Three vaccine manufacturing facilities are planned in Africa. In Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa.
The equitable distribution of vaccines around the world is crucial to ending the covid-19 pandemic, says Holm Keller, the head of the Kenup Foundation.
For Josep Borrel, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Europe’s support for vaccine procurement in Africa is unequivocal. “Our support is clear. We may not have done enough yet…” he says in his mea culpa to African foreign ministers.
On 27 August 2021, President Paul Kagame, President Macky Sall of Senegal and President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission met with Uğur Şahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech in Berlin. They had discussed the sustainable production of vaccines for Africa.
The kENUP Foundation, in collaboration with BioNTech, had organized this meeting. The Director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa), Dr John Nkengasong, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, and the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Werner Hoyer, were also present.
These factories will come as an answer to the lack of vaccines in Africa.
Gérard Rugambwa
