European Investment Bank (EIB Global) has announced a new financing arrangement towards Akagera Medicines Africa to support the company’s efforts toward the development of new vaccines in Rwanda. The €2 million (approximately Rwf3 billion) backing will accelerate research and development as well as manufacturing of new vaccines to treat infectious diseases including tuberculosis, HIV, Lassa fever, and Ebola, EIB said in a statement. The new financing will also be used to strengthen technical skills and expertise of Rwanda based teams to support home-grown discovery, manufacturing, and development of vaccine delivery systems within Rwanda. “With the significant support of the European Investment Bank, we are now a clinical company and moving faster to build human capacity and specialized infrastructure in Africa to support vaccine development,” Michael Fairbanks, Chief Executive Officer of Akagera Medicines said during the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany, where the financing announcement was made. Fairbanks highlighted that Akagera Medicines enjoys the support of Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) in Norway, the Gates Foundation, and the National Institute of Health in Washington. Akagera Medicines Africa was established in Rwanda in July 2022 to develop the pharmaceutical sector in Rwanda and elsewhere in Africa. The company is majority-owned by the Government of Rwanda through the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB). The company has its major activities in the United States where it operates laboratories in Boston and San Francisco. “European Investment Bank’s financial support to Akagera Medicines represents an important contribution to the realisation of Rwanda’s vision to become a biotech hub, and to the vision of Africa becoming self-reliant in vaccine and medicine manufacturing,” RSSB CEO, Regis Rugemanshuro said. According to EIB, the latest health financing from the EIB Global is part of the wider EU Global Gateway initiative for Africa and is designed to unlock crucial investment to improve access to public healthcare. EIB Vice President, Thomas Ostros said that the partnership with Akagera demonstrates EIB’s close cooperation with public and private partners to accelerate development of innovative solutions for combating deadly diseases and scaling up healthcare financing and delivery. “The EIB is committed to further strengthening our partnership with local and international players, to scale up investment and support innovative technology together,” he noted in a statement. The financing to Akagera complements other EU initiatives in Rwanda and the region under the Global Gateway Flagship - Manufacturing and Access to Vaccines, Medicines and Health Technologies (MAV+), which focus mainly on supporting the necessary ecosystem for vaccine manufacturing. This is supported by the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund (EU-AITF), established to increase investment in infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa dedicated to projects in Africa with the aim of reducing poverty and fostering economic growth in the region.
