Nigeria has been chosen, alongside five other African countries by the World Health Organization (WHO) to begin production of COVID-19 vaccines.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, made this announcement at the African Union summit in Brussels, Belgium on Friday.
According to Tedros, the move was part of a global mRNA technology transfer hub established in 2021 to support manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries to produce their own vaccines, ensuring that they have all the necessary operating procedures and know-how, to manufacture mRNA vaccines at scale and according to international standard.
He noted that Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia all applied and have been selected as first recipients of the technology, adding that WHO and its partners will work with the beneficiary countries to develop a roadmap and put in place the necessary training and support so that they can start producing vaccines as soon as possible.
Reacting to the development, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa stated that the initiative that will allow Africa make its own vaccines, which is very important as it means mutual respect, mutual recognition, investment in African economies and infrastructure and, in many ways, was a way of giving back to the continent.