Rwanda and ADF officials at the $12 million Regional Pharmaceutical Sector Support Project launch (1)
Rwanda’s Ministry of Health in partnership with the African Development Fund (ADF) have launched the anticipated $12 million Regional Pharmaceutical Sector Support Project which will enable the continent to increase access to pharmaceuticals.
The project is part of the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation (APTF), which is headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, and was created and designated by the ADF Board of Directors meeting June 2022 while its financing was approved in Abidjan in February 2024.
Dr. Corneille Ntihabose, the Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health said that the biggest benefit of the project is for African countries to improve availability of pharmaceuticals on time, in big quantities whenever needed and at a lower price.
Mike Habinshuti, the Special Project Unit (SPIU) Coordinator
“The project will help us to have a collective bargain for medicines at lower prices since it will be done as a bloc, but increase skills and capacity of the pharmaceutical sector,” Ntihabose said.
Ntihabose stated that projects will enhance Rwanda’s plans to become a home for pharmaceuticals and vaccines production following the inauguration of the BioNTech (mRNA) vaccine manufacturing facility in Kigali.
The project is also aimed at improving access to advanced pharmaceutical technologies and strengthening the regulatory framework of the pharmaceutical industry in Africa.
Dorsaf Zangar Labidi, Division Manager of the Industrial Development Division at African Development Bank (AfDB)
Dorsaf Zangar Labidi, Division Manager of the Industrial Development Division at African Development Bank (AfDB) said the project will build the capacity of African pharmaceuticals, increase local production as part of a systematic approach to learning new technologies and bringing production plants up to standard technologically.
Labidi stated that It will strengthen human and professional competences in the sector and in the Research and Development (R&D) ecosystem, as well as in pharmaceutical and vaccine innovation to develop the skills needed for a thriving sector on the continent.
Dr. Corneille Ntihabose, the Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health
According to Mike Habinshuti, the Special Project Unit (SPIU) Coordinator in the Ministry, the implementation plan will see 40% of the funding retained in Rwanda to re-enforce pharmaceutical value-chain infrastructure and state-of-the-art lab equipment of which other African countries will benefit from in the long run.
The project will also collaborate closely with the African Union Medicines Agency, Africa CDC, the European Union, the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, the Medicines Patent Pool, philanthropic, bilateral and multilateral agencies and institutions but also the African Continental Free Trade Area- to allow other 55 states to benefit.
