The African Development Bank has extended $11.96 million (Ksh 1.7b) grant to Rwanda to speed up the establishment of the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation to be based in Kigali City.
The latest funding through the bank’s African Development Fund will complement $1.93 million already set aside by the Rwandan government to support the implementation of the Regional Pharmaceutical Sector Support Project in Rwanda.
“The project should produce considerable benefits (outputs and outcomes) throughout Africa. The leading-edge research and technological innovations of the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation should improve health care outcomes by providing access to advanced medicines and treatments, tackling prevalent diseases and contributing to the continent’s overall health resilience,” said Aissa Touré Sarr, AfDB country head for Rwanda.
The foundation is also being backed to help improve access to advanced pharmaceutical technologies and strengthen the regulatory framework of the pharmaceutical industry in Africa.
The APTF will further act as a transparent intermediary that promote and negotiate with pharmaceutical multinationals and other countries in the South on sharing technology, know-how, and patents protected by intellectual property rights, a move expected to ease challenges faced by many African countries when seeking technologies to manufacture medicines and vaccines locally.
Rwanda signed a host country agreement in December 2023 for APTF following the approval by AfDB board to establish the foundation in 2022.
