Biovac, a leading South African vaccine manufacturer, has secured a major financing package from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the EIB Group, and the European Commission to establish Africa’s first end-to-end multi-vaccine manufacturing facility. The investment combines a $20 million IFC senior loan with additional mobilization underway and a €75 million quasi-equity investment from the EIB Group under the Human Development Accelerator (HDX) guarantee programme, supported by the European Commission. The project is also aligned with broader initiatives such as AIM2030, the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, and global health resilience efforts aimed at improving equitable access to essential medicines across Africa.
The new facility is expected to significantly expand Africa’s vaccine manufacturing capacity and strengthen preparedness for future pandemics. It will initially produce the oral cholera vaccine and later expand to include vaccines for polio, pneumonia, and meningitis. Once fully operational by 2028, the facility is projected to manufacture up to 30–40 million vaccine doses annually, helping address around 40% of the global cholera vaccine supply gap while supplying regional demand through procurement partners such as UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Beyond improving vaccine access, the project is expected to create over 340 skilled jobs and around 7,000 indirect jobs, while also supporting technology transfer, industrial innovation, and long-term health system resilience across the continent. It is positioned as a landmark step toward reducing Africa’s dependence on external vaccine suppliers and strengthening local production capacity.
Development finance leaders highlighted the project as a model for global partnership-driven health investment. IFC emphasized that building local manufacturing capacity is a strategic priority for health security, while the EIB Group described the initiative as a historic step toward producing vaccines in Africa for Africa. The European Commission highlighted its role under the Global Gateway strategy in mobilizing blended finance, and the Gates Foundation underscored the importance of improving equitable and timely vaccine access through such targeted collaborations.
The initiative also aligns with the African Union’s Vision 2040 goal of producing 60% of vaccines locally and contributes to multiple Sustainable Development Goals, including health, economic growth, innovation, and global partnerships.
