This month, Rwanda became the first country in Africa to roll-out the Pfizer-BionTech Covid-19 vaccine, with the help of COVAX. Alongside vaccines arriving in Ghana in late February, this marks the beginning of the continuous efforts of local and international governments together with global organisations and various donors, all trying to find creative solutions for the continent’s vast vaccination needs that are currently far from being met.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Africa, like many other developing countries, will not be able to vaccinate health workers, older population, and other vulnerable groups before 2023, and this timeline could extend to 2025 for universal coverage. Therefore, the continent may suffer vastly from the pandemic’s socioeconomic impacts due to challenges around vaccine access.

Economic recession

Around the world, socioeconomic effects can be witnessed in multiple areas and sectors, and Africa, albeit the relatively low numbers of cases, is no different. The pandemic caused an estimated 6.1 per cent fall in per-capita income in 2020 and is expected to lead to a further 0.2 per cent decline in 2021, setting average living standards back by a decade or more in a quarter of Sub-Saharan African economies. According to the World Bank, tens of millions are expected to be pushed into extreme poverty.

For oil exporters such as Angola, Nigeria, and South Africa, Covid’s impacts aggravated a crisis that began in 2015, with commodity prices falling, global lockdowns resulted in reduced exports for other commodities including iron, cotton, coffee and sugar, travel restrictions have halted tourism and hospitality industries across the continent, and strict national lockdowns since have affected small businesses.

To reach herd immunity and kick start the economy, Africa needs 1.5 billion vaccines, and global efforts to reach that goal are mounting. The most meaningful initiative is currently COVAX, bringing together governments, global health organisations, manufacturers, scientists, private sector, civil society and philanthropy, with the aim of providing vaccines to people in all corners of the world, regardless of their wealth. The facility was the first to deploy vaccines across the continent, with Rwanda, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire being the first countries to begin vaccinating their health workers. The African Union has secured 270 million vaccine doses from a mix of sources including Pfizer and BioNTech, Oxford University and AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson. But alongside global and local efforts, challenges are still vast.

Advancements needed on multiple factors

Even with hundreds of millions of doses secured by the various entities, wide scale vaccine distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa is facing multiple obstacles, as infrastructure, as always, is insufficient across sectors. Poor transport and distribution systems, weak health systems, and insufficient cold storage systems are a few to name. Widespread distrust is another concern, as vast parts of the population are afraid to get the jab. The cost is another major issue, expected to reach $8-16 billion, with an additional markup of 20-30 percent for program delivery.

There are a number of issues to tackle in the path of reaching adequate vaccination rates across the continent:

Covax participation: today, almost half of Africa’s 55 countries are participating in the COVAX facility. Participation should grow to strengthen pooled bargaining power and ensure wider access to the global vaccine supply.

Secure other paths for vaccines: COVAX promised access to vaccines for up to 20% of participating countries’ population. As herd immunity currently requires at least 60% of the population to be vaccinated, countries across the continent must look for other ways to access more doses, including direct agreements with big pharma producers, and national R&D.

Allocate more funds to in house Research: in a recently published Covid-19 Vaccine Development and Access Strategy, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) set accelerating local involvement in research and development as the leading key objective. Today, only 2% of clinical trials conducted worldwide occur in Africa. Investments in research and development will ultimately lead to increased efficacy of vaccines for populations across the continent, as can be seen in India. For example, Nigerian laboratory announced the development of a 90% effective vaccine back in September in the preclinical trial but it has not been able to carry out clinical trials due to lack of support and funding.

Invest in rural infrastructure: in rural, last-mile communities, as well as in large cities across the SSA region, electricity is unreliable, and often non-existent, leaving solar power as the only path to reach full immunisation. Added efforts should be taken to fast-track deployment of off-grid solar electrification solutions, with a focus on local healthcare centers that could use the power to properly store vaccines. Since 2018, and long before Covid was ever an issue, UNICEF, alongside local governments and Gavi, began buying and installing solar-powered vaccine-storage fridges throughout the region, supporting vaccination efforts for various diseases.

Finally, continued global support is crucial in reaching adequate immunisation rates. Wealthy countries and donor organizations must continue their support, while private companies working across the continent should ramp up efforts to expand solar solutions, last mile delivery technologies, and cold storage devices.

The road to Covid eradication is still long, and Africa is facing a longer path than most. With focused efforts on multiple accounts millions of lives can be saved.

 The writer is an entrepreneur and investor, leading sustainability-driven companies in Africa and the Middle East