“As I said in Marburg, the Pan-African Vaccine Manufacturing Project fits perfectly with Ghana’s roadmap for domestic vaccine development and manufacturing. Ghana is ready to play her role, and I reaffirm, once again, her determination to make the Project work successfully.”

These were the words of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the commencement of construction of a vaccine manufacturing plant in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, 23rd June 2022.

Expressing his gratitude to President Paul Kagame for the invitation to participate in the event, President Akufo-Addo indicated that the commencement of construction “signals to the rest of the world the commencement of this end-to-end vaccine manufacturing facility, involving Rwanda, Senegal and my own country of Ghana.”

In his remarks, the President indicated that the import of the Pan-African Project means that Ghana, Senegal and Rwanda must work together, the reason why the relationship between the Food and Drugs Authorities (FDA) of Ghana and Rwanda is being deepened with the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding on Friday, 24th June.

“Through this, FDA Ghana, which achieved WHO Global Benchmarking Maturity Level Three (3) in 2020, and is working hard to achieve Maturity Level Four (4) by the end of this year, will assist FDA Rwanda to attain WHO Maturity Level Three (3) as soon as possible. Both agencies will collaborate further in vaccine drug product manufacturing, fill, finish and lot release in their respective countries,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo continued, “Again, collaboration between our two countries resulted recently in a team from Rwanda visiting research institutions in Ghana, with the aim of strengthening institutional development and partnership towards vaccine discovery and advancement”.

In addition, the President revealed that Ghana’s research institutions are undergoing capacity-building to be ready for the discovery and development of vaccines and other biologicals, stating that “a consortium of Ghanaian pharmaceutical companies, led by DEKS Vaccines Ltd., is working closely with BioNTech Rwanda, BioNTech Germany and kENUP to fill, finish and package the drug product in Ghana from the plant here in Rwanda.”

He thanked BioNTech of Germany, kENUP Foundation, IFC, EIB and the other financial institutions for working closely together with African countries to enable the continent achieve vaccine self-sufficiency.

“I assure all and sundry that Ghana is delighted to be part of this Pan-African Project to manufacture mRNA COVID, Malaria and TB vaccines from drug substance through drug product to fill, finish and package,” the President added.

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has urged the global community to increase its efforts to help developing countries withstand the devastations caused by the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

In a keynote speech delivered at the 15th Edition of the European Development Days (EDD) in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday, 21st June 2022, President Akufo-Addo emphasized the need for the global community to increase efforts to help developing countries to safeguard their economies from the dire effects of COVID-19.

The President also pointed out that developing economies have had their plights further worsened by the raging Russian/Ukrainian conflict, a development, he said, is having a toll on only Ghana and Africa in particular but also much of the developing countries.

He further revealed the deadly effects of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine on African economies and what lies in stock for developing countries, citing a recent United Nations report estimates that seventy percent (70%) of Africa’s economies are at severe risk from the Russian war in Ukraine.

“The World Bank also tells us that, subsequent to the conflict, the number of poor people in sub-Saharan African countries would rise from four hundred and thirteen million (413 million) to four hundred and sixty-three million (463 million) this year, an increase of fifty million (50 million) persons,” he stressed.

President Akufo-Addo continued, “In the midst of this, eighteen (18) African economies have experienced credit downgrades, even when all economies are suffering adverse fallouts from last year’s pandemic, and we, in Africa, are also facing the risk of so-called “taper-tantrums”, as investors exit our markets, thereby exacerbating the increasing cost of borrowing” he further added.

He noted further said that, at the moment, support for non-IMF programme countries to alleviate the debt burden is limited, as the initial facility designed by the G20 countries to offer respite to economies with elevated debt challenges – the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) – has expired since December 2021, and has not been renewed.

In these trying times, President Akufo-Addo observed that an amount of six hundred and fifty billion (650 billion) Special Drawing Rights (SDR), approved for the IMF in August 2021, which was meant to provide significant relief, has seen Africa receive a total of only US$33 billion (about 5 percent).

Moreover, the promise to reallocate some US$100 billion of the SDR allocations to African economies, agreed to at the Paris Summit in May 2019, has so far yielded about US$36 billion in pledges as of April 2022, he indicated.

“Then, there is the matter of the “African Risk Premium”, when African entities are borrowing from the market, which increases the cost of capital, and which must be addressed, especially as Africa provides the highest return on investments obtainable anywhere, and has a good record of debt repayment,” the President said.

The combined effects of the debt situation, rising interest rates and rising cost of living are resulting in severe macroeconomic and financial instability, the President stated, adding that “what is clear, he pointed out, is that the ensuing damage cannot be cured so easily with the limited fiscal tools at our disposal and national policy adjustments,” he added.

Africa-Europe relations

President Akufo-Addo also touched on the relationship that exists between Africa and Europe, which, he said, should be the catalyst to further ensure that Africa gets the needed assistance, especially in these trying times.

According to him, the long-standing relationship between Africa and Europe, founded on ties of blood, culture, geography and history, should serve as a platform for enhanced co-operation between the two continents.

“Indeed, no one needs to tell us that the issues of peace, progress and prosperity in Africa and Europe are deeply intertwined, which pre-suppose that ensuring the development of Africa should be in our common interest. Now more than ever, strong partnership between Europe and Africa, reinforced political dialogue, and expanded co-operation in the fields of economic growth and international security, are required,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo continued, “We have to work together to achieve our goals, including a fair, equitable process of energy transition, which recognizes that the entire African continent is responsible for less than four percent (4%) of global emissions, and which safeguards the prospects of Africa’s development.”

It is for these reasons, according to the President, that the establishment of the three hundred billion euro (€300 billion) Global Gateway package by the European Union, which aims to boost public and private investment in the areas of infrastructure, energy and green transition, digital transformation, growth and jobs, transport and human development over the next seven years, is very much welcomed.

President Akufo-Addo emphasized that the package must be innovative in its approaches to infrastructure investments and financing, and should be characterised by demand driven projects, which deliver on African defined priorities.

He expressed hope that, over these two days, the series of high-level panel sessions and debates, framed around the five key investment areas of Global Gateway, i.e., digital, climate and energy, transport, health, education and research, will produce outcomes that will prove beneficial in the successful implementation of infrastructural developments across Africa.

“In the next few years, we must be able to see tangible projects across Africa as proof of the fruits of the strategic partnership that exists between Africa and Europe. Excellent relations between Europe and Africa are essential to global security in this 21st century, which should lead us onto the path of shared progress and prosperity”, he concluded.

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has reiterated government's commitment to  empowering indigenous industries in order to get them ready for the emergence of what he called, a new global architecture. 

Speaking at the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of Tropical Cable and Conductor Limited in Tema on Wednesday June 22, Vice President Bawumia said, the ongoing global economic crisis will bring about a new phenomenon, where countries would no longer have to depend much on external products and services, but depend on their local industries. 

He therefore, called for a rethink, and the offering of more support to local Ghanaian industries, to empower them and become as successful as Tropical Cables in order to be internationally competitive.

"The on-going global economic crisis, which is the result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, will bring about a new global architecture, where countries will have to be more dependent on themselves," Dr. Bawumia said.

"If we are going to succeed in this new global architecture we have to support our local industries to succeed and that is what other countries are going to do."

"So there has to be a rethinking of the policy environment; what can we do to empower our local industries.  We don't know when this war between Russia and Ukraine will end but it will  end, even if it is five years, it will end."

"But we have to be prepared for the new emerging global architecture and we can only be prepared for it if we are empowering our local industries to produce and to compete globally," he said.

Government’s industrialization vision

The Vice President stressed that the Akufo-Addo government's industrialization agenda, which was initiatiated right from the onset of the government in 2017 before the current global crisis struck, could not have been done at a better time, as it fits into the agenda to boost local industries, be self reliant, create jobs for the youth and also boost the economy.

"Industrialization has been a strategic priority of the President Akufo-Addo government. The One District-One Factory (1D1F) initiative has been transformed from a political mantra into an effective flagship programme geared towards revamping of the economy to create job opportunities for our teeming graduate youth," added the Vice President.

"At the heart of the One District One Factory (1D1F) concept lies government’s firm determination to transform the Ghanaian economy from one known as a supplier of raw materials to the international market, supplying foreign industries with our natural resources to the detriment of our locally based ones, to one that feeds local value enhancing entities in the country."

"This is why our government in 2019 launched the Ghana Beyond Aid program, with the overriding objective of adding value to our raw materials at source."

25 YEARS OF TCCL EXCELLENCE

Congratulating Tropical Cable on its 25th Anniversary, Dr. Bawumia expressed joy that an indigenous Ghanaian company, which started on a modest note and went through the challenges of industrialization, has grown to be an industry leader and has also become globally competitive.

"Twenty-Five years in the life of any business is certainly worth celebrating but if one appreciates the unique challenges of the manufacturing sector, then the significance of this achievement  stands out even more," Dr. Bawumia said.

"We are gathered here to congratulate and to celebrate you as a company on the attainment of this remarkable milestone. I am sure that, 25 years ago the scale of what we see here today was probably difficult to imagine but due diligence, discipline and innovation and hard work, have paid off and propelled you to sit at the top of your industry, serving power utilities, the real estate and construction sectors, the mining sector, and son on, with internationally certified cables and conductors."

"As a nation, we are indeed proud to have an indigenous company like Tropical Cable. Its achievements over the years, have given meaning to the belief that this nation is capable of producing and sustaining industrial excellence."

At the ceremony, the Vice President also launched Tropical Cable's CAT-6 cable, which is the first certified CAT-6 cable to be manufactured in Ghana.

The Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has, on Wednesday June 15, 2022, launched the GhanaPay Mobile Money Service in Accra.

Read more ...