The African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation, aimed at improving the continent’s access to technologies for making medicines, vaccines and other pharmaceutical products, and which is to be established in Kigali, Rwanda.
The independent foundation will work as a technological intermediary connecting technology suppliers with companies, acting as a deal maker for the private sector, and assisting in negotiations over critical technologies required for production and innovation, reports BusinessLIVE.
Speaking last week at the AfDB’s 2023 annual meetings in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, the bank’s president, Akinwumi Adesina, said the foundation would also help “derisk” current investments by development partners, including the $3bn that will be invested by the AfDB, to build the continent’s pharmaceutical sector.
The foundation is supported by Africa’s heads of state and governments, including SA, and will also include indigenous vaccine manufacturing capacity.
While efforts have been made to move vaccines manufacturing capacity to Africa, including the m-RNA technology, and progress was made in countries such as SA, Rwanda and Morocco, the continent still manufactures just 1% of its vaccines needs.
BusinessLIVE article – AfDB to help African states to make their own medicines (Restricted access)
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