€75 million EIB Group quasi-equity funding to support Biovac’s first end-to-end multi-vaccine factory in South Africa enables an additional $20 million and further financing from the IFC.
This investment is backed by a European Commission EFSD+ guarantee under the Human Development Accelerator (HDX), part of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy.
Project to produce key vaccines for cholera, polio, meningitis and pneumonia, strengthening the prevention of serious infectious diseases in children.
More than 340 skilled and 7000 indirect jobs to be created, providing a major boost to vaccine self-reliance and regional health resilience.

A new alliance of financiers has accelerated Africa’s push to set up the continent’s first end-to-end vaccine manufacturing plant, taking the areas’ 1.4 billion population closer to much needed vaccine self-reliance.

In an update on Thursday, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced a €75 million quasi-equity investment to support Biovac’s multi-vaccine centre in South Africa, opening the financing gates for an additional $20 million and further mobilisation in funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

“Expanding local vaccine development and end-to-end manufacturing on African soil for global supply has always been Biovac’s vision, and this funding enables us to accelerate it. The new facility will ensure a reliable supply of life-saving vaccines for Africa and expand our role in building skills, advancing technology transfer and driving vaccine innovation that will benefit generations to come,” explained Biovac CEO, Morena Makhoana.

Established in 2003 in partnership with the government of South Africa, Biovac is a Cape Town based biopharmaceutical company that makes routine paediatric vaccines. Biovac says it has delivered over 450 million vaccine doses to countries across Southern Africa, including COVID-19 vaccines.

Biovac’s South Africa plant key to continent’s vaccine self-reliance

Morena added that establishing a multi-vaccine plant on African soil would have been hard to achieve without the backing of “our international partners.”

This critical funding to expand Biovac’s manufacturing capacity marks a decisive moment in firming up Africa’s health security and vaccine self-reliance. Africa has been championing vaccine self-reliance since the painful lessons learnt during the Covid-19 economic fallout when the continent got the last priority in getting vaccines from the global north.

The alliance of financiers said the project will expand Africa’s vaccine manufacturing capacity, support equitable access to essential immunisations and strengthen preparedness for future pandemics.

EIB Group said its financing is designed to provide flexible capital for growth while sharing risk, and is provided under the Human Development Accelerator (HDX) guarantee programme, an initiative backed by the European Commission and implemented by the EIB Group, in partnership with the Gates Foundation.

The project also contributes to the Team Europe initiative on Manufacturing and Access to Vaccines, Medicines and Health Technologies in Africa (MAV+), part of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy.

Poduction of vaccines in Africa

“With this project, alongside our partners, we are making history. The European Investment Bank is very proud to support the production of vaccines in Africa, for Africa, in what will be the first facility of its kind on the continent,” noted Nadia Calviño, President of the European Investment Bank.

Calviño added: “This will save lives: protecting millions of children from serious illnesses, and equipping scientists and health workers to safeguard their own communities. It shows how Europe is translating global partnerships into real benefits for people on the ground.”

Nearly half of the manufacturing equipment for the new facility will come from European suppliers, underscoring the strong industrial partnership between Europe and Africa and ensuring mutual economic benefits while meeting the highest technical and quality standards.

The facility, which is expected to be completed by 2028, will initially produce the oral cholera vaccine and later expand to include vaccines for polio (IPV), pneumonia (PCV) and meningitis (MenX).

Biovac’s projected vaccine production capacity

Once operational, it will have the capacity to manufacture up to 30–40 oral cholera vaccine million doses annually, addressing about 40 percent of the global cholera vaccine supply gap and supplying regional markets through procurement channels such as UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

This expansion will create over 340 skilled jobs and 7,000 indirect jobs, fostering technology transfer and innovation, and bolstering Africa’s long-term health resilience.

Jozef Síkela, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, added: “This is what Global Gateway looks like in action. We are using our guarantee under the Human Development Accelerator to unlock private and multilateral investment in a facility that will produce up to 40 million vaccine doses a year, address 40 percent of the global cholera supply gap and create more than 340 skilled jobs. That is health sovereignty combined with real development impact. And it is exactly the model we are replicating through the Global Health Resilience Initiative, launching before the summer.”

On his part, Ethiopis Tafara, IFC Regional Vice President for Africa, stated: “Africa has a significant market in scaling resilient, high-quality vaccine manufacturing and strengthening long term health security across the continent. Building local manufacturing capacity is both a development imperative and a strategic investment in resilience. As one of its long-standing financiers, IFC is pleased to support Biovac’s expansion. This innovative financing demonstrates how multilateral development banks can work together to unlock transformative investments and lay the foundations for a sustainable vaccine manufacturing industry in Africa.”

“Expanding vaccine access and advancing health equity remain urgent priorities. Through our partnership with the European Investment Bank and the European Commission as part ofHDX, we support efforts to make vaccine supply more reliable, so that life-saving vaccines reach people quickly and affordably. Today’s announcement, which enhances the continent’s ability to produce its own vaccines, shows how targeted partnerships can help strengthen health systems and address persistent gaps in access,” said Kalpana Kochhar, Interim President, Global Policy and Advocacy at the Gates Foundation.

Vaccine self-reliance part of African Union’s vision 2040

The project directly supports the African Union’s Vision 2040 goal of achieving 60 percent local vaccine production and advances several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – notably SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

It is also aligned with the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA) initiative with a contribution of €611 million from Team Europe, and global health partners to accelerate vaccine production capacity on the continent.