The African Development Bank has signed a $15 million financing agreement with South African vaccine manufacturer Biovac to support the development of Africa’s first end to end vaccine manufacturing facility capable of producing oral cholera vaccines, as reported by AfDb and Business Insider Africa. The project is part of a broader effort to strengthen Africa’s pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity and reduce the continent’s reliance on imported vaccines.
The multi vaccine facility, being developed in Cape Town, is expected to be completed by 2028 and will initially focus on oral cholera vaccines before expanding production to other vaccines. Biovac’s planned facility is designed to provide capacity for up to 500 million vaccine doses annually, creating a potential manufacturing base for supplying South Africa and other African markets.
The investment addresses a major weakness exposed by recent health emergencies, when African countries faced severe dependence on overseas suppliers for essential vaccines. Establishing end to end manufacturing capacity on the continent could improve supply security, shorten procurement timelines and strengthen Africa’s ability to respond to cholera outbreaks and other infectious disease threats while developing local pharmaceutical expertise and industrial capacity.
For the African Development Bank, the agreement also advances its wider push to build a more resilient African health industry by directing development finance toward local manufacturing rather than relying primarily on imports. For Biovac and South Africa, the project could position Cape Town as an important vaccine manufacturing hub, while giving African countries greater capacity to produce critical health products within the continent.
