Rwanda has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) on the establishment of the African Regional Office of the institute in the Rwandan capital city of Kigali.
The MoU was signed by Rwanda's Minister of Health Dr Sabin Nsanzimana and the director general of the IVI Dr Jerome Kim on Tuesday, June 11, in Kigali, the ministry said in a statement. Rwanda was welcomed as member state of the International Vaccine Institute, an organization which aims to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health, in 2022.
The new office, which will open later this year, will act as a hub for global health research, innovation, and collaboration, the IVI said.
The IVI, headquartered in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, was established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Program, with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health, according to the statement.
Rwanda was selected by the IVI Board of Trustees after a detailed evaluation of proposals from five African countries that had expressed interest in hosting the regional office.
The country has taken the lead in vaccine manufacturing by cooperating with German biotechnology company BioNTech. In December 2023, Rwanda launched a BioNTech’s first mRNA vaccine manufacturing plant in Africa.