Senegal, the EU, the US, several European governments, and other partners, have signed an accord in the capital Dakar today to finance vaccine production in the West African state.
The pandemic has highlighted the lack of vaccination-production facilities on the continent, AFP reports, which critics have said is emblematic of Africa’s troubling dependence on the global north, which has been largely reluctant to sanction exports of jabs.
Ninety-nine percent of vaccines used in Africa are imported, according to a joint statement from the Senegalese government and the EU. The new financing deal is intended to kickstart vaccine production at the Paris-headquartered Pasteur Institute in Dakar, the statement explained, lowering the dependence on imports.
Senegal’s economy minister Amadou Hott was quoted in the statement as saying that the new production site will lay the foundation for “pharmaceutical and medical sovereignty”. It will also “increase access to…