Last Tuesday, President Akufo-Addo cut the sod for the construction of a vaccine manufacturing factory in the country.
The factory, which is worth US$122.6 million, is a private sector-led project by DEK Vaccines Limited, a consortium of Ghanaian pharmaceutical companies.
The factory, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024, and commence production in 2025, is expected to produce 600 million doses of vaccines annually.
The Chronicle congratulates DEK Vaccines Limited for the bold step it has taken to establish a vaccine manufacturing center in the country. This is a big deal and that is why we are happy about it.
We all witnessed the chaotic situation the country found itself in during the Covid-19 pandemic. Vaccines were in short supply globally, and this was confirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The government had to take drastic measures in order to procure vaccines for its citizens, a situation The Chronicle believes would have been easy if the country had this kind of vaccine factory at the time Covid-19 reared its ugly head.
Now that we have a vaccine center here, we are sure of being among the first countries to get access to medicines in case of any pandemic.
Again, the country spent huge sums of scarce foreign exchange to procure the vaccines from other countries. The Chronicle holds the view that even though the project is a private sector-led one, it would require the government to pay for the vaccines it needs, but it will be cheaper than when it is ordered from abroad.
This will go a long way to save foreign exchange and help build the economy. Anytime a country procures goods from abroad, we pay with the U.S. dollar, and this puts pressure on the forex rates. Some few months ago, the cedi was rated as one of the worst currencies in the world, because it had lost its value against the dollar.
It is, therefore, a delight that we are going to produce vaccines in the country, because it will enable us save foreign exchange.
Job opportunities are also one of the numerous benefits the country stands to gain from the establishment of the vaccines factory. Some Ghanaian youth are definitely going to be engaged in its construction, as well as those who would work in the facility when completed.
Apart from the gains, the establishment of this factory will bring to Ghana, the sub-region also stands to benefit from it. Ghana’s neighboring countries will also be able to procure vaccines, and this will also enable the country to serve as a vaccine hub to its neighbours.
While we congratulate the owners of the project, we are also using this platform to thank the government for first of all initiating the idea and also for facilitating the process.
We hope it is now time to enhance the participation of private sector in government led initiatives. We, therefore, hope that government will continue to create the enabling environment for the private sector to partner it and execute projects for the benefit of the country.
