Opinion: 3 key interventions for growth in African vaccine manufacturing

Africa has had a nascent vaccine manufacturing sector for the past few decades, but events over the last four years have contributed to significant momentum in efforts to expand production capacity in Africa. Following COVID-19, the need for local manufacturing capacity at scale to ensure equitable health outcomes is clear and well accepted, continentally and more broadly, with 2024 presenting a pivotal opportunity to continue this positive growth trajectory. As we stand on the cusp of 2024, the spotlight on African vaccine manufacturing has never been more intense.

Much of the momentum gained during this period was made possible by the foundation laid in earlier years by Biovac, Institut Pasteur Dakar, Institut Pasteur Tunis, and Vacsera in South Africa, Senegal, Tunisia, and Egypt, respectively. The African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative, or AVMI, was also founded as an advocacy and networking body for the industry and the pandemic has seen AVMI’s role growing considerably.

In 2019, AVMI worked with a handful of African vaccine manufacturers. The continent has now more than 25 manufacturing initiatives at varied levels of maturity, with AVMI having increasingly taken on the role of industry voice, advocate, and partner in multilateral and other stakeholder engagements on behalf of the continental industry players.