Senegal plans to build Africa’s first full-service vaccine manufacturing plant, Madiba, with $80 million funded by the Institut Pasteur de Dakar and the European Investment Bank. Madiba, short for Manufacturing in Africa for Disease Immunization and Building Autonomy, will help Africa tackle COVID vaccination issues by producing 300 million vaccine doses. The aim is to create employment for youth and be a training site to produce next-generation vaccines.
Africa is 99% dependent on vaccine imports, with most African countries getting their vaccine supplies from UNICEF, provided by the vaccine alliance Gavi. However, only a few countries can sustainably obtain vaccines. Some African countries produce their vaccines, including South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Ethiopia, and Tunisia. Although, they all have limited manufacturing ability and only handle the last few steps of labeling and packaging. With the new manufacturing facility, Africa can create autonomy in producing & distributing essential vaccines.
