Diamniadio, Dec 20 (APS) – The vaccinopole of the Institut Pasteur de Dakar, based in Diamniadio, is an “emblematic project for Africa”, declared Thursday, the general director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC, in English), the Senegalese Makhtar Diop, visiting Senegal.
”For me, this is an emblematic project for Africa because at the time of the Ebola crisis and that of Covid-19, the continent did not have access to vaccines,” he said. he indicated in particular, on the sidelines of his visit to the vaccinopole of the Pasteur Institute in Dakar, in Diamniadio.
” Whereas normally when we have crises of this nature, countries are prepared and can vaccinate populations. Unfortunately our African countries did not have the necessary resources to do so,” he added.
” (…) We believed that the Institut Pasteur in Dakar was only to put an international level structure in Africa, to create and produce enough vaccines because it already had a track record with the production of yellow fever vaccines for decades. But, by using national expertise, we were able to put this investment in place,” declared Mr. Diop.
According to him, today the new challenge is to help create a much larger African market. ”To this end, it would be urgent for an African medicines agency to be set up and to function,” he suggested.
The Director General of the International Finance Corporation is visiting Senegal from December 18 to 23, to explore the means and possibilities of supporting the country’s economic development, relying on the private sector.
During his six-day visit, he will also have discussions with the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, members of the government, private sector actors and entrepreneurs.
The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector of emerging countries.
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