The African Union, African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) and UNICEF have formed a partnership to scale up vaccine procurement and delivery in a seamless fashion to AU Member States.

This partnership is aimed at ramping efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as less than 2 per cent of people on the continent are fully vaccinated since vaccination efforts in the region began.

Already, the African Union has secured access to up to 400 million doses of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine and this partnership is expected to increase the momentum further.

Dr. Vera Songwe, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa intimated that:

“We are building a platform for deeper collaboration that will pave the way to a more robust African response to the pandemic and move the continent towards recovery, leveraging the opportunities to strengthen health systems and support the manufacturing sector for job creation.
Dr. Vera Songwe, United Nations Under-Secretary-General

“We are pleased to have UNICEF as a strategic partner in the delivery of these vaccines to our member states, as they are extremely experienced in handling and managing vaccines, and a strong and well-established relationship with all AU member states,” indicated Mr. Strive Masiyiwa, African Union Special Envoy.

The AVAT which is established by African leaders has led African efforts on fair equitable access and distribution of vaccines and negotiating vaccine acquisition with pharmaceutical companies. These initiatives are for the purposes of ensuring that at least 60 per cent of the African population with safe and efficacious vaccines to achieve ‘herd immunity’ by 2022.

“Since the pandemic began, Africa CDC has worked with COVAX to ensure that African Union Member States get fair access to COVID-19 vaccines. At this critical moment where widespread vaccination is more urgent than ever, we must do all to vaccinate at least 60 per cent of the African population by 2022,” Dr. John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CDC averred.

More importantly, the procurement of these vaccine does has been made possible with the support of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). The Afreximbank supported this entreprise by providing a US$2 billion Advance Procurement Commitment (APC) Guarantee facility to Johnson and Johnson on behalf of the AU Member States.

Furthermore, the bank has also made available direct financing to AU Member States for the payment of vaccine doses. Earlier this year, Afreximbank made a part payment of US$ 330 million to J&J on behalf of the AU Member States, as part of the commitment under the Agreement.

“As the Financial and Transaction advisers to AVAT on the Johnson & Johnson Agreement, we are pleased to formally welcome UNICEF to the partnership and look forward to a fruitful collaboration for efficient delivery of vaccines to African countries,” Professor Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank indicated.

“Access to COVID-19 vaccines has been unjust and unfair, with people in Africa bearing the brunt of this inequality. This cannot continue,” according to UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

“UNICEF is a staunch partner of the African continent with a long history of delivering vaccines everywhere they are needed. We are pleased to join this partnership with the African Union and AVAT to maximize supply and access to vaccines.”
Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director