The ground breaking of the BioNTech vaccines plant took place in Rwanda on Thursday, 23 June. EU Ambassador Nicola Bellomo joined Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, BioNTech CEO, Uğur Şahin, African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat, Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other stakeholders for the historic event.

The ground breaking took place following the signing of the Twinning agreement between the EU and Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (RFDA) to support the enabling environment for regulation of medicinal products and vaccines in Rwanda.

On this occasion, President Kagame said; “I am pleased that yesterday the RFDA signed a Twinning agreement with the European Union. I thank you. Through a consortium led by France, Germany and Belgium, our regulatory capacity will gain expertise and support from these partner agencies. This is just the latest backing that we have received from Team Europe, which has been a strong backer of this effort from the beginning.”

The facility will be initially equipped with two BioNTainers, and is expected to employ about 100 staff by 2024 according to BioNTech.

H.E. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission said; “Today, we are laying the foundations for the first mRNA vaccine production facility in Africa, in Kigali. We are turning a simple but ground-breaking idea into reality, in record time. The ‘Vaccine Equity for Africa’ project is a milestone – not only in the fight against COVID-19. This project represents the immense potential of African and European cooperation. Our partnership will bring vaccine manufacturing in Africa to the next level.”

Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-founder of BioNTech stated; “We have reached the next milestone with the construction start of the first African mRNA manufacturing facility based on our BioNTainers – just four months after we introduced the BioNTainer concept in February. This factory will be the first in an African network to provide sustainable production capacity for mRNA pharmaceuticals. Further manufacturing facilities in Africa and on other continents are planned to follow. The goal we pursue together with governments and regulatory authorities is to produce vaccines for Africa here with highly skilled professionals from Africa.”