On Thursday, 2 June 2022, the Institut Pasteur de Dakar and the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced the conclusion of a €75 million financing agreement to support the construction of the new MADIBA vaccine manufacturing facility, in the presence of EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle, Aliou Ndiaye, General Secretary of the Senegalese Ministry of Economy, Planning and Cooperation, Dr Amadou Alpha Sall, Director of the Institut Pasteur de Dakar, and Irène Mingasson, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Senegal. The EIB financing will play a key role in scaling up vaccine production capacity to respond to epidemics and endemic diseases in the region.

The Institut Pasteur de Dakar’s new facility 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 state-of-the-art site includes a manufacturing platform for the production of vaccines against epidemics, a high-volume production site for yellow fever vaccines and a training site for the production of next-generation vaccines.

This large-scale financing will help to significantly increase Africa’s medical and vaccine production capacity to fight COVID-19 and other endemic diseases, thus reducing its dependence on imports, which currently cover 99% of its vaccine needs. Once the new manufacturing facility is complete and operating at full capacity, up to 300 million vaccine doses will be produced each year for the African continent. Aware of the challenge this manufacturing facility presents, the EIB and the European Union already donated €5 million in 2021 alongside other partners for technical feasibility studies and project preparation for the Institut de Dakar’s MADIBA project (Manufacturing in Africa for Disease Immunisation and Building Autonomy) to accelerate the construction of this new vaccine production site.

“Having different levels of protection in different parts of the world will not help to end the COVID-19 pandemic or control other vaccine-preventable diseases. It is essential to create decentralised vaccine manufacturing capacity to address this imbalance and ultimately build a safer and healthier world,” said Dr Amadou Alpha Sall, Director of the Institut Pasteur de Dakar. “We must build a thriving ecosystem for vaccine production in Africa to achieve the level of resilience we all need. Expanding capacity in all vaccine-related sectors will create major employment opportunities for thousands of young Africans.”

“I am delighted that the EIB is a key financer of the Institut Pasteur de Dakar. This new vaccine manufacturing facility is a vital project for public health in Senegal and across the African continent, contributing to greater autonomy in the production and distribution of essential vaccines,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. “With EIB Global, our goal is to work with our partners as closely as possible to meet the needs of Senegalese people, supporting growth and jobs, and improving their day-to-day lives in key areas such as health and access to healthcare. This project is also a concrete example of the European Union’s joint approach in Africa through Team Europe.”

“The MADIBA project demonstrates the European Union’s and Team Europe’s commitment to upholding the fundamental principle of solidarity that links us to all countries across Africa. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, we have maintained that no one is safe until everyone is safe. We must therefore work together to ensure equal access to vaccines around the world,” said Irène Mingasson, Head of the EU Delegation to Senegal.

This financing is part of a major European investment programme with Team Europe and its partners. The EIB, through its dedicated development arm (EIB Global), is a key player in supporting the manufacture of and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Africa.

The EIB has become one of Senegal’s most important development partners, with a total investment of almost €900 million since 1966 to improve living conditions in cities and rural communities, boost the economy, and help businesses, small project promoters and society adapt to climate change.