Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
We all know that COVID-19 has devastated us health wise, taking 3 million lives globally. It has devastated economies, and necessitated an unprecedented response. Fiscal support, foregone revenue, and liquidity provision add up to more than 15% of global GDP of roughly $90 trillion. We were not prepared for this pandemic globally. Spending billions of dollars for preparedness would have saved trillions of dollars on response. The world is learning about how to do better for the next time and putting in place a framework for managing the next pandemic.
Africa must also prepare and think of how to do better for future crises. That is part of the reason for this meeting.
As an AU Special Envoy on COVID-19, I am proud that African countries have done relatively well in managing the pandemic. I commend our leaders on a One Africa strategy with the creation of the AU COVID-19 Response Fund to which the continent has contributed, support for the Africa CDC, the African Medicines Supply Platform which President Ramaphosa referred to, and the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team which has led to this meeting.
But the global vaccine shortage – and the resulting inequality in access – threatens Africa’s efforts. A scramble for vaccines has set in. Even COVAX is occasionally outbid, leaving low-income countries particularly vulnerable. Of the more than 670 million doses administered as of last week, only 0.1% had gone to people in low-income countries, which is home to nearly a tenth of the world population.
Africa is the continent with the lowest rate of vaccine delivery – 1.1 doses per 100 people. In North America, the figure is over 40.
This is morally unconscionable – and a serious economic hit. The World Bank estimates each month of delay in vaccine access costs Africa $13.8 billion in lost output.
WTO data shows that African merchandise exports and imports both fell by more than 8% in 2020 – more than the 5.3% global average. Africa’s exports are expected to grow by 8.1% this year, in line with the global average, though this projection will rely very much on renewed demand for travel and oil. Imports, however, are set to grow by only 5.5%. So between a steeper fall and a weaker rebound, Africa will have lost ground to other regions, particularly Asia.
To boost growth, trade, and livelihoods, we need to get vaccines to everyone who needs them. I have said it before and will repeat it again: the best global economic stimulus is equitable access to vaccines.
On manufacturing, Africa represents 16% of the world’s population but less than 0.1% of global vaccine production. This makes the continent vulnerable to export restrictions, and has deprived the world of a more diversified vaccine production base.
That is why this conference is so important. That is why Africa’s private and public sectors must pay close attention to see what we can do now to prepare better and for the future.
We need more access to vaccines now. And looking ahead, we need to boost vaccine manufacturing capacity in Africa and other regions. The demand is certainly there, and with the African Continental Free Trade Area it makes it much, much easier to move products around once manufactured.
But first, we need to make full use of existing facilities. According to Professor Ampofo of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative, fewer than ten companies in Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia engage mostly in packaging and labelling, with some fill and finish as well. But we can examine how to turn these manufacturing capacities around so that we can have the full value chain of manufacturing.
We also have capacity for manufacturing animal vaccines and we should look into this. The Serum Institute of India got its start in anti-venoms after its founder lost a prized horse to snakebite. So we should not neglect the possibility of using animal vaccine manufacturing capacity and turning this around for production.
Building more manufacturing capacity will involve long-term investments, including in more complex upstream activities, like producing antigens and active pharmaceutical ingredients. This capacity will be useful not just for COVID, but for the childhood vaccines for which Africa is the leading customer.
As the excellent discussion paper for this conference rightly notes, African countries can encourage vaccine manufacturing by cutting tariffs on raw materials, and providing other incentives – though such incentives should be in line with WTO rules. Having regulatory capacity and frameworks in place, as well as experienced personnel, are other critical for increasing vaccine production.
Even with domestic manufacturing capacity, open trade will remain essential for vaccine production. The Pfizer BioNTech supply chain as we heard a few weeks ago relies on 280 inputs, from 19 countries. Without trade, these vaccines cannot be made.
The WTO is part of the solution. As my brother Dr Tedros noted, with his support and that of other organizations, I am convening an event a couple of day now with vaccine manufacturers from all over the world, including China, Russia, and Cuba. We also have civil society participants and experts including our own Dr Nkengasong. The goal is to shed light on export restrictions and other trade-related obstacles to vaccine scale-up, and find immediate solutions for increasing production. We will also look at how to make vaccine distribution more equitable, now and in in the future, including turning around existing manufacturing capacity where possible, and building and financing new manufacturing capacity in developing and least developed countries, including in Africa.
In addition, we must look at the transfer of technology and knowhow. Close to 100 developing countries have now petitioned to waive standard WTO intellectual property protections for COVID-related vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. This is understandable, given our past and present experience of waiting in line to get lifesaving medicines and vaccines.
But as I said earlier, WTO members need to walk and chew gum at the same time. We must increase vaccine production now. And at the same time, we must look for a pragmatic outcome on the TRIPS waiver proposal that gives developing countries automaticity in access to vaccines and other medical products, including manufacturing capability with transfer of technology and knowhow, whilst also incentivizing innovation, research, and development.
This ‘third way’, as I call it, is about saving lives. It is about immediate action to help end the vaccine shortage. And it is about agreeing on a framework – ideally before the WTO’s Twelfth Ministerial Conference in December – to provide developing countries the assurances they deserve and need, that their people will not be last in line.
The WTO must be more proactive on the trade and health agenda, working with other organizations in the public and private sectors.
We will do all we can to ensure that the WTO does its part in supporting countries in Africa in managing the present crisis, and being better prepared for future pandemics.
Africa itself must continue working hard to put in place the frameworks, domestic financing, needed to deal with this and future crises. I’m very encouraged with what I heard from Presidents Ramaphosa and Kagame about our present efforts, and I hope we will continue. This can and should be complemented with global efforts. But in the final analysis the onus is on us as Africans. I do know we can do the job.
Thank you.
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala 
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