For decades, Africa’s health systems have depended heavily on imported vaccines and medicines. That dependence became particularly visible during COVID-19, when global supply disruptions and export restrictions exposed the risks of relying almost entirely on external manufacturers.
Today, however, Africa is beginning to change that equation.
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The continent imports more than 99 per cent of the vaccines it uses, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB), while the African Union has set an ambitious target of producing 60 per cent of its vaccine needs locally by 2040.
Recent investments suggest that this ambition is moving from policy to industrial reality.
One of the most significant developments is the $15 million financing agreement between the AfDB and South Africa’s Biologicals and Vaccines Institute of Southern Africa (Biovac). The financing will support a new multi-vaccine manufacturing facility in Cape Town, expanding Biovac’s annual manufacturing capacity to as much as 500 million doses. The project is expected to create about 340 full-time jobs, with opportunities extending into technical training, quality control and regulatory science.
The facility is expected to become Africa’s first end-to-end producer of oral cholera vaccine and South Africa’s first local producer of inactivated polio vaccine. Production is planned to expand progressively to vaccines for polio, pneumonia and meningitis.
This is important because vaccine manufacturing involves far more than filling vials. Building an end-to-end industry requires expertise in research, formulation, quality assurance, regulatory science, cold-chain logistics and technology transfer.
Biovac’s strategy demonstrates the value of partnerships in building that capacity. The company is working with international partners, including Sanofi, the International Vaccine Institute, Biological E, EuBiologics and Bharat Biotech, to transfer technology and develop local manufacturing capabilities.
The wider African ecosystem is also gaining momentum.
Gavi’s African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), launched in 2024, provides up to $1 billion in incentives designed to encourage commercially sustainable vaccine manufacturing on the continent. By mid-2026, 13 technology-transfer agreements were underway across six African countries, while approximately $3 billion in complementary financing had been mobilised. Gavi has indicated that the first AVMA-supported African-manufactured vaccines could potentially be deployed as early as 2027.
The progress extends beyond manufacturing facilities. Africa is also strengthening the regulatory systems required to support a competitive pharmaceutical industry. In August 2026, Mozambique became the 10th African country to reach WHO Maturity Level 3 for medicines and imported-vaccine regulation, joining countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Strong regulation matters because manufacturers seeking WHO prequalification must operate within credible regulatory environments capable of ensuring quality, safety and efficacy.
The opportunity therefore extends beyond health security. Vaccine manufacturing can stimulate pharmaceutical research, specialised employment, cold-chain infrastructure, packaging, logistics and regional supply chains.
For Africa, this represents a broader industrialisation opportunity. Rather than remaining primarily a market for medicines and vaccines produced elsewhere, the continent can increasingly become a producer, innovator and exporter of high-value health technologies.
The journey will not be easy. Manufacturing requires substantial capital, reliable infrastructure, skilled personnel, predictable markets and strong regulatory institutions. Governments will also need to create procurement systems that provide African manufacturers with sufficient demand to scale competitively.
Yet the direction is increasingly clear.
The next generation of African health security will not be defined only by how effectively countries purchase vaccines. It will also be measured by how much of the knowledge, technology, manufacturing capacity and economic value behind those vaccines Africa can build for itself.
The rise of vaccine manufacturing is therefore more than a healthcare story. It is a story of African industrial capability, economic resilience and strategic self-reliance.
