$45m to boost Africa's vaccine manufacturing

The Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) in collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation has announced a $45 million partnership geared towards achieving vaccine manufacturing autonomy in Africa.

This project dubbed Manufacturing in Africa for Disease Immunization and Building Autonomy, MADIBA is a multi-year project, aimed at developing and building a world-class workforce to support vaccine manufacturing by establishing a Centre of Training Excellence to equip young people, particularly women, with specialized skills in vaccine research, manufacturing, production, and distribution.

Through the same project, IPD will develop a specialized training curriculum for the African continent to train cohorts of talented young people across Africa, with a goal of enrolling 40 per cent, females.

It will also incorporate key ecosystem actors such as world-top experts, universities, and manufacturers to address the development of the requisite skills required for highly specialized functions, including vaccine production, quality assurance, supply chain, procurement, and clinical trials. Graduates of the MADIBA training program will help drive the success of other manufacturing facilities, contributing to a multiplier effect and transformation of vaccine manufacturing capabilities on the continent.

Dr Jean Kaseya, the Director General of Africa CDC said: “Between 9,000 and 14,000 full-time employees will be needed across vaccine manufacturing and research roles across Africa by 2040. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the African Union together have called for a New Public Health Order which will safeguard the health and economic security of the continent as it strives to meet the aspirations of Agenda 2063. A key pillar of this vision seeks to expand the local manufacture of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Presently, less than one per cent of vaccines administered on the continent are manufactured locally. This places a great financial burden on the health systems of African countries and reduces their ability to respond to pandemics and other health crises.”

Mr Amadou Sall, the CEO of IPD said this project will enhance human capital development for biomanufacturing in Africa. According to him, the project is a crucial pillar for vaccine equity and autonomy and a significant driver for high-skilled job creation among young and female Africans.

He added: “We aim to train a workforce for MADIBA and other African vaccine manufacturers, develop partnerships with African universities and promote science education among young students. We extend our gratitude to the Mastercard Foundation for investing in our mission to accelerate equitable and sustainable access to health in Africa along with other financial and technical partners of the MADIBA project.”

“This partnership builds on the game-changing intent of the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative. That is, to keep everyone safe by rolling out COVID-19 vaccinations while ensuring Africa’s long-term health security by building vaccine manufacturing expertise and workforce on the continent. In the process, our collaboration will also benefit the livelihoods of young people in Africa,” said Reeta Roy, the President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation.

The project in question will accelerate the development of a formally trained workforce in Africa to support vaccine manufacturing projects on the continent. It also aligns with the Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy to enable 30 million young people, particularly young women, to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.

In February 2023, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Africa CDC launched the Regional Capability and Capacity Centre Network, RCCCN focusing on talent development for manufacturing and research in which it selected  IPD as its inaugural centre.