Africa represents around 20% of the world’s population and accounts for 25% of global vaccine demand—with African public market vaccine sales totaling approximately US$33 billion—yet the continent produces only 0.1% of global vaccine supply.
African leaders have pledged to increase the share of vaccines manufactured locally from 1% today to 60% by 2040, through a sustainable vaccine development and manufacturing ecosystem underpinned by research and development, intellectual property and technology transfer, innovative financing, strategic partnerships, and procurement commitments.
However, the continent’s health sector is experiencing a severe financing crisis, with Official Development Assistance expected to fall by 70% between 2021 and 2025, endangering health initiatives that historically depended on external funding and, ultimately, public health.
These realities underscore the urgency of domestically anchored research and development investment and ownership of innovation. African-led solutions are more essential than ever to serve both continental priorities and global health security.
ACHIEVE Africa is an African-led initiative rooted in the continent’s long-term development vision, including the aspirations captured in the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the goal of producing 60% of Africa’s vaccines locally by 2040. It is aligned with critical declarations and commitments on research and development, self-sufficiency, and human development. It seeks to leverage a range of innovative technologies, including mRNA vaccines, adjuvanted protein-based platforms, and viral vectors.
Envisioned as an initial five-year project, ACHIEVE Africa strengthens the continent’s research and development ecosystem to:
Build the full value chain from discovery to delivery—designing, developing, testing, and manufacturing vaccines and biologics end to end.
Enable local production of vaccines and biologics, across multiple technology platforms, while upgrading laboratories, expanding clinical trial sites, and accelerating solutions for priority health challenges.
Building on Africa’s expanding scientific capacity, strong political commitment, and the availability of new technologies ready for transfer, ACHIEVE Africa represents a unique opportunity to deliver durable health innovation. It is anchoring a new generation of African scientists, institutions, and enterprises at the center of vaccine and biologics research, development, and manufacturing.
Through an operational strategy that prioritizes African-led discovery and innovation, the initiative leverages existing intellectual property and technology platforms, including mRNA and other advanced modalities, to strengthen training and capacity development across integrated pillars such as:
These new platforms are designed to evolve over time, enabling rapid adaptation to new and emerging health threats. Importantly, African-led science will serve as both an R&D and human-capital development engine, building scientific and technical capacity throughout the biotech value chain.
The initiative is inclusive by design and complements African and global strategies and efforts. It aligns with global health priorities while strengthening Africa’s voice, leadership, and agency within international partnerships.
ACHIEVE Africa is designed to complement and reinforce:
