President Paul Kagame on Monday, December 18, joined by BioNTech CEO, Dr. Uğur Şahin, Presidents Macky Sall of Senegal, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados, and other leaders, for the inauguration of BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine manufacturing site, at Kigali Special Economic Zone.
The facility will produce 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines yearly.
This is part of African Union’s plan to produce 60% of all vaccines locally by 2040.
Once completed, the Kigali manufacturing site will be the first end-to-end mRNA manufacturing facility in Africa and already features a completed manufacturing unit known as the BioNTainer, which are designed to manufacture a range of mRNA-based vaccines.
“You may remember that the consensus, at first, was that mRNA vaccines could not even be administered in Africa. It was said to be too complicated for our health systems. When we embarked on this journey to manufacture these vaccines on our continent, we were told that it would take a minimum of 30 years. That was all wrong. It is possible. And because it is possible, it is also necessary,” President Paul Kagame
President Paul Kagame held bilateral talks with Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, on Monday as she visited Rwanda for the landmark launch of BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine manufacturing plant on the African continent.
Minister Baerbock is the most senior German government official to travel to Rwanda since the two nations renewed diplomatic ties in 2008.
Her visit underscores strengthening Rwanda-Germany relations following years of strain related to Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
During their meeting, President Kagame and Minister Baerbock discussed Rwanda and Germany’s growing cooperation on shared priorities around development, trade, climate action, and investment.
Both leaders championed the new BioNTech plant as a model for biomedical partnerships between Africa and Europe.
The Rwandan leader also met Ghana’s president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who was in Rwanda to attend the inauguration of BioNTech Manufacturing Site.
They discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties between Rwanda and Ghana in various areas including vaccine manufacturing.
He also met Senegalese president, Macky Sall in the evening ahead of the inauguration of BioNTech’s Vaccine Manufacturing Site in Kigali where they discussed opportunities for partnership to strengthen vaccine manufacturing in Africa.
The heads of state also exchanged on continental and global issues of mutual interest.
President Kagame also received Prof. Dr. Uğur Şahin, Co-founder and CEO of BioNtech Group and his delegation, who were in Kigali to launch the first BioNTainer unit at the mRNA vaccine manufacturing site in Kigali.
At part of his meetings, the President received African Development Bank Group President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina for a discussion on the Bank’s development partnership with Rwanda ahead of the inauguration of BioNTech Manufacturing Site.
