Accra, May 22, 2021

The European Commission (EU) has named Ghana as one of its possible manufacturing hubs of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa.

A statement signed on Friday by Mr. Eugene Arhin, Acting Director of Communications at the Office of the President, said the announcement was made during a two-day working visit by President Nana Akufo-Addo to Brussels, Belgium, on 19 and 20 May.It said that at a meeting with the Vice President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission unveiled the selection of Ghana as a possible manufacturing hub for COVID-19 vaccines in Africa.

The Commission said this follows the initiatives already taken by the Ghana Government towards the domestic manufacturing of vaccines.

Earlier this month, three Ghanaian companies working to produce COVID-19 vaccines locally presented proposals on their plans to the government.

Task force teams from the European Union (EU) and Ghana will meet shortly to discuss modalities towards the realisation of this initiative, which, in principle, could be supported by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the statement said.

The EU announced on Friday in Rome that it intends to invest 1 billion euros (about US$1.2 billion) to build COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing hubs in Africa.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said it will also donate at least 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to low- and middle-income countries by the end of the year.