Ottawa – Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, announced the allocation of $85 million in funding to the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), a new initiative aimed at enhancing health security and equitable access to vaccines across Africa. This contribution highlights Canada’s ongoing commitment to addressing barriers to equitable vaccine access and to learning from the COVID-19 pandemic by increasing support for regional manufacturing initiatives in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite having roughly 20% of the world’s population, Africa accounts for less than 0.1% of the world’s vaccine production.
AVMA will provide financial incentives to help vaccine manufacturers in Africa build and increase production capacity and make production sustainable. It is designed to improve the region’s resilience to pre-existing, new, and emerging pandemics, outbreaks, or other health emergencies. By 2035, AVMA aims to incentivize the production of over 800 million vaccine doses.
Spearheaded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in partnership with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, AVMA is a strategic priority for the G7 and our partners on the African continent to strengthen healthcare supply chains.
Minister Hussen made the announcement in the context of an official launch event held in Paris for the AVMA and Gavi’s investment opportunity for 2026–2030, co-hosted by the Government of France, the African Union and Gavi. Canada’s investment in AVMA will be pooled with other donors to support AVMA’s objective of making up to US$1 billion available to manufacturers in Africa.
“The pandemic showed us how crucial it is that we work together to deliver more timely and equitable access to vaccines. These are lessons we must carry forward. The African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator is a direct and important response to the need to produce vaccines closer to the people that need them.” – Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development