Marrakech, Kingdom of Morocco — Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco opened the First Manufacturers Marketplace for Vaccine Manufacturing African Union Member States. The meeting saw the participation of Ministers of Health or Representatives, Heads of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) of the 13 African Union (AU) Member states signatories of the Communiqué of the Video- Teleconference (VTC) Meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly of the AU Heads of State and Government extended to African Vaccine Manufacturing Countries held in May 2022, representatives from the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), stakeholders such as UNICEF, AfCFTA Secretariat and African vaccine manufacturers.
The meeting aimed at:
- Gathering African vaccine manufacturers, their Health and Finance Ministers and National Regulatory Authorities, to identify the best modalities for achieving the success and the sustainability of the on-going manufacturing projects;
- Creating awareness among participating member states about the importance of their commitments to select and procure from African manufacturers;
- Creating a platform for manufacturers to present their current vaccine capacity and expansion plans, and discuss how these could help direct/build on market shaping activities;
- Exchanging views on the design of Gavi's proposed African Vaccine Market Accelerator (AVMA) an instrument seeking approximately US $1 billion of financing, which aims to support sustainable vaccine manufacturing in Africa by offsetting initial costs and enabling competitive entry into the market. The potential AVMA will be considered by the Gavi Board later this year; and
- Sharing best practices for a strengthened private - public partnership.
Opening the meeting, H.E., Pr Khalid Aït Taleb, Minister of Health and Social Protection of Morocco stated "It is an honor for the Kingdom of Morocco to host this meeting of the first marketplace of African vaccine manufacturers. Under the leadership and strategic direction of His Majesty the King Mohammed VI, the Kingdom of Morocco adopted the public-private partnership approach to support the local manufacturing of vaccines and biotechnologies, with a strong commitment of the Government to support the development of the entire value chain of the local manufacturing of vaccines and biotechnologies products, in order to achieve the Moroccan and continental vaccine sovereignty." He further added that: "Under the leadership of His Majesty, the King Mohammed VI, the kingdom of Morocco is strongly committed to collaborate and support the Africa CDC efforts, in order to achieve the goal of 60% of Africa's vaccine needs produced on the continent by 2040."
Delivering his remarks, H.E. Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director General, Africa CDC said: "The meeting is a testament of the commitment of the member states to see through the ambitious goal of the Partnerships for African Vaccine manufacturing (PAVM)." He further added:" To achieve that ambition, public-private partnerships will be a key to unlock not only a commercial potential but also the health security that we all aspire that requires us (Africa) to have the capacity to manufacture vaccines as well as all other health products we need."
In a statement, David Marlow, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, noted: "One of the hardest lessons learned from the pandemic is that we can never again allow a situation where vaccine manufacturing is concentrated in an exclusive number of countries and regions. Working in partnership with Africa CDC, Gavi is committed to working with African Union member states, manufacturers, and regulatory agencies to build a thriving, sustainable vaccine manufacturing ecosystem in Africa capable not only of helping the region respond to future health emergencies but contributing to healthy vaccine markets globally."
The AU through the Africa CDC, in April 2021, established PAVM to steer a bold goal that will enable the African vaccine manufacturing industry to develop, produce, and sustainably increase supply, from less than 1 percent, currently. The AU Bureau of Heads of State and Government further requested Gavi and other partners to procure at least 30% of all vaccines produced by the continent for global consumption. Since 2021, the African vaccine industry has witnessed positive developments with several vaccine manufacturing projects taking shape throughout Africa. Gavi also launched a new 4 pillar regional manufacturing strategy in December 2022 that looks at various aspects such as antigen selection and demand, including how to harness and channel country demand through the Gavi model in support of this effort. Gavi is also currently designing a new financial instrument - the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA) which aims to provide support for sustainable procurement and long-term vaccine manufacturing on the continent, in recognition of the larger initial costs faced by new African vaccine manufacturers.
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The 3-day event offered in-depth conversations between AU Member States, NRAs, RECs, African vaccine manufacturers, as well as key partners on how best to address the challenges facing the African vaccine manufacturing, to advance all together towards the bold goal of 60% of Africa's vaccine needs produced on the continent by 2040. This included discussions on ways to best ensure there is sufficient and predictable demand from African countries for vaccines made on the African continent.
The meeting saw the launch of the Platform for Harmonized African Health Products Manufacturing (PHAHM) Ministerial working group with an objective to harmonize health products manufacturing in Africa and frame continental approach to ensure the complementarity of ongoing manufacturing initiatives. This is in line with the Africa New Public Health Order call to action for: "an expanded manufacturing of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics." Amongst its key strategic pillars.
