SENEGAL – Senegalese vaccine maker Institut Pasteur de Dakar has secured €75 million (US$80.65M) funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support the establishment of a new state-of-the-art vaccine manufacturing facility.

The funds will be used to accelerate the development of the modern manufacturing facility which will boost vaccine manufacturing capabilities to respond to epidemics diseases in the region as well as increase biopharmaceuticals, medical and vaccine production capacity.

In addition, the facility will bolster economic development and attract increased investments in the country as it is being built in Diamniadio, a town and special economic zone strategically located between Senegal’s capital Dakar, the international airport and the “Port du Futur” of Ndayane.

The facility named MADIBA (Manufacturing in Africa for Disease Immunisation and Building Autonomy) includes a manufacturing platform for the production of vaccines against epidemics, a production site for yellow fever vaccines and a training site for the production of next-generation vaccines.

Moreover, the ultramodern facility in Dakar is expected to manufacture essential drug substances including producing up to 300 million vaccine doses a year against COVID-19 and other endemic diseases to ultimately reduce Africa’s dependence on imported vaccines and support equal access to vaccines.

General Secretary of the Senegalese Ministry of Economy, Planning and Cooperation Aliou Ndiaye, Institut Pasteur de Dakar Director Dr Amadou Alpha Sall and Irène Magnusson, Head of the EU Delegation to Senegal concluded the financing agreement on behalf of the Senegalese government.

On the other hand, EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle concluded the financing agreement on behalf of the European Investment Bank, the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States.

The Institut Pasteur de Dakar’s new facility is in line with EIB’s involvement in Africa particularly through its new EIB Global initiative bringing together its activities outside the European Union in close cooperation with the other EU institutions as part of Team Europe.

Earlier, the EIB and the European Union donated €5 million (US$5.37M) in 2021 alongside other partners for technical feasibility studies and project preparation for the MADIBA project to speed up the construction of the vaccine production site.

The new manufacturing plant will further support the decentralization of vaccine manufacturing capacity to help end the COVID-19 pandemic, control other vaccine-preventable diseases and ultimately build a safer and healthier world through autonomy in production and distribution of essential vaccines.

Additionally, expanding capacity in all vaccine-related sectors will create major employment opportunities for thousands of young people while building a thriving ecosystem for vaccine production in Africa.

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