Kigali: Akufo-Addo joins Kagame to cut sod for construction of BioNTech vaccine plant

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo today, Thursday, 23rd June 2022, at the invitation of President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, participated in the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the BioNTech vaccine manufacturing plant in Kigali, Rwanda.

The event according to Nana Akufo-Addo signals to the rest of the world the commencement of end-to-end vaccine manufacturing in Africa, a Pan-African project involving Rwanda, Senegal and Ghana.

“As I said in Marburg in Germany, some four months ago, the Pan-African Vaccine Manufacturing Project fits perfectly with Ghana’s roadmap for domestic vaccine development and manufacturing. Ghana is ready to play her role,” Mr Akufo-Addo said adding “I reaffirm, once again, Ghana’s determination to make the project work successfully.”

He noted that Ghana’s research institutions are undergoing capacity-building to be ready for the discovery and development of vaccines and other biologicals, and a consortium of Ghanaian pharmaceutical companies, led by DEKS Vaccines Ltd., is working closely with BioNTech Rwanda, BioNTech Germany and kENUP to fill, finish and package the drug product in Ghana from the plant in Rwanda.