African fund promises $3bn for vaccine self-sufficiency

Some $3bn (£2.4bn) will be invested over the next 10 years to end vaccine dependency across the continent, the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) has pledged.

The plan incudes a new pharmaceutical centre for research, development and manufacturing based in Rwanda's capital, Kigali.

It has been widely lauded as key towards ending Africa’s dependence on outside donations, as recently witnessed during the Covid-19 pandemic

AfDB say it will also help patent and license African-made medicines, and support governments to navigate the intellectual property rights to global vaccines and medicines.

It follows a recent World Trade Organisation announcement of a partial waiver on coronavirus vaccine patents, allowing select developing countries to produce the jabs.

AfDB says Africa currently imports more than 70% of all its medicines, spending about $14bn every year.

This article originally appeared in BBC News

Photo: AFP