President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday in State House, Nairobi witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Kenya and Moderna to establish the first mRNA manufacturing facility in Africa.

The state-of-the-art mRNA facility in Africa is expected to produce up to 500 million doses of vaccines each year. The company anticipates investing up to $500 million (Sh57 billion) in the new facility, which will focus on drug substance manufacturing on the continent of Africa for the continent of Africa.

Uhuru has been at the forefront championing for the African continent to manufacture its Covid-19 vaccines to meet the demand of its population. The president emphasized the fact that  Africa’s capacity to manufacture vaccines would help arrest emerging pandemics.

He pointed out that the setting up of the mRNA manufacturing facility will be a game-changer, especially for Kenya which has had the vision to produce vaccines.

“We are celebrating one of the greatest things that have possibly happened since the onset of Covid-19 at the African continent,” Uhuru said.

He reiterated the challenges faced by the African continent during the Covid-19 pandemic. This was not because of a lack of finances to buy the vaccines but because the vaccines were not available for them for purchase.

“We are truly grateful for this and I think it will be transformative not just in helping us with the current pandemic but also preparing the continent of Africa for future pandemics,” the President.

Last week, Chinese firm Sinopharm announced the establishment of a similar plant in Nairobi. The Chinese government said that it has set aside over a billion shillings to help in the construction of the manufacturing plant. East Africa region managing director Jimmy Wu Hongjon said the setting up of the vaccine production plant was meant to address the vulnerability of the country to future health emergencies as was evident during the Covid-19 pandemic.