You would think that a high-profile initiative to boost pharmaceutical manufacturing on the African continent would be launched on, well, the African continent — instead of, say, the City of Light? Au contraire mon frère!
Paris will host the June 20 launch of Gavi’s African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, which will make up to $1 billion available over 10 years to help the continent achieve vaccine sovereignty. The choice of locale runs counter to calls from the global south to stop holding major events in the global north, both for logistical reasons — expenses, visa denials — and because of the dubious optics of former colonizers sitting around in their hometown, talking about what’s best for lower-income countries, whose riches they once plundered.
Never one to shy away from controversy, Githinji Gitahi, the CEO of Amref Health Africa, used his platform at the Devex CheckUp @ WHA77 summit in Geneva to decry the Paris launch as an example of how hard it is for the global north to cede power to local players.