President Muhammadu Buhari says he welcomes the exploratory interactions between Nigerian biomedical scientists, officials of the Federal Ministry of Health and BioNTech company, to support the production of messenger RNA vaccines in Nigeria.
He made his position known in Abuja, while receiving the Executive Chairman of KENUP Foundation, Mr. Holm Keller, and representative of the Chief Executive Officer of BioNTech, the mRNA vaccine patent holder, in Africa.
The President expressed confidence that the interactions between the parties would be productive, leading to collaborations at many levels, from clinical trials to research and development of new vaccines, and eventually support vaccine manufacturing facilities in the country.
Recounting the vast inequalities in access to COVID-19 vaccines at the peak of the pandemic, President Buhari said Nigeria and many middle-income countries had now appreciated the need for global decentralisation and diversification of manufacturing capacity of items critical for public health security.
The President also used the occasion to highlight the many investment opportunities and potentials in the country, urging the Foundation and other prospective investors to pay special attention to Africa’s most populous country.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, had said President Buhari had passion for public health security, hence his audience to the team, which wants to explore possibilities of collaboration in manufacture of new vaccines.
Mr. Holm Keller also described his organisation as a public-benefit foundation dedicated to innovation in public health.
He said he was thrilled to learn of the great work President Buhari and his administration had done for Nigeria, and that the aim of their mission was to establish research partnerships, which will benefit Nigeria and Africa.
Bello Wakili
