EU to Invest 1 billion euros to build Covid-19 Vaccine Production Hubs in Africa

The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines across Africa has been marred by delays, scarcity, and uncertainty. African countries are waiting for more shipments of doses, as some grapple with spikes in caseloads and overwhelmed health systems. But rigid intellectual property rights and national export restrictions around vaccines and the inputs needed to produce them have led to global shortages in supplies.

In response to the above challenge, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said, Friday that the European Union will invest 1 billion euros to build vaccine manufacturing hubs in Africa.

There are fewer than 10 African manufacturers with vaccine production and are based in five countries: Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia, the move is meant to make Africa more independent on vaccine production.