News & Analysis: Rwanda
“African Union officials hope that at least three countries — South Africa, Senegal and Rwanda — will develop the capacity to produce vaccines for the continent, including the mRNA-type vaccines that emerged as an innovative technology against COVID-19.”
“African health officials aim to vaccinate at least 30 percent of the 1.2 billion population by the end of the year, rising to 60 percent or higher after that. But supply constraints, logistical problems and vaccine hesitancy mean immunisation campaigns have been patchy.”
“East Africa was the continent’s most resilient region in 2020 due to less reliance on primary commodities and greater diversification compared with other parts of Africa… The region’s real GDP growth will rebound to 3% in 2021 from 0.7% in 2020, with Djibouti, Tanzania, and Rwanda as the potential top performers.”
“This is the second additional financing for the Rwanda COVID-19 Emergency Response Project, bringing a total of $45.19 million in World Bank contributions to the country’s national COVID-19 health response and vaccination campaign.”
“Current vaccine makers would still need to be willing to share their knowledge with new producers. But no country that invested in COVID-19 vaccine production made this kind of knowledge sharing, often called technology transfer, a requirement of their funding, at least to the public’s knowledge.”
“Kagame who was speaking at the 2-day continental vaccine manufacturing conference disclosed that he had initiated contacts with some vaccine manufacturers specifically focusing on the messenger RNA (mRNA) used by Moderna and Pfizer.”
“The government has initiated various programmes that have helped bridge the gender gap, including propelling women to senior leadership position and increased the enrolment of girls in schools among others. However, some challenges have persisted.”
“East Africa remains on its toes as it is significantly behind in vaccination compared with other parts of the world, raising the risk of the region failing to contain the ongoing pandemic.”
“Rwanda, a country of 12 million, plans to inoculate 30 percent of its population this year, and 60 percent by the end of 2022.”
Oxford Professor, Sir Paul Collier, discusses the macroeconomic shocks suffered by African economies and the approach needed to accelerate the recovery.
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