The Power Table: Africa’s Pandemic Preparedness

The recent Covid-19 pandemic exposed the continent’s vulnerabilities to mitigate against the blow of a major health outbreak. Africa had to queue in line to receive vaccines that took longer to arrive due to political challenges that saw major Western countries prioritise the health of their own citizens first. Given that Africa imports almost all the vaccines administered on the continent, it had no choice but to await its turn. Africa hopes to strengthen its vaccine manufacturing ability in the next decade and we ask, what it will take to ensure that happens? Joining CNBC Africa for this discussion are Stavros Nicolaou, Senior Executive at Aspen Pharmacare Group, Dr. Amadou Sall, CEO at Institut Pasteur de Darkar and Chaiman of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network and Morena Makhoana, CEO at BioVac Institute.