U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) officials, joined by U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Todd Haskell, on Thursday toured Aspen Pharmacare’s sterile vaccine manufacturing facility in Gqeberha, South Africa. The visit follows the announcement of IFC, DFC, and European partners’ commercial financing of Aspen.
The support of IFC, DFC, Proparco, and DEG has the capacity to influence and strengthen Aspen’s ambition to expand the facility’s capacity to produce COVID-19 vaccines and other critical pharmaceutical products for populations in Africa. Eastern Cape Provincial Government leadership joined the group for the tour, an important milestone in the continuing partnership.
DFC’s investment is part of the agency’s Global Health and Prosperity Initiative which is focused on supporting the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthening health resilience in developing countries. Through the initiative, DFC is working to catalyze $5 billion in projects that bolster health systems, support infrastructure development, and expand access to clean water, sanitation, and nutrition.
Under President Biden’s leadership, DFC’s financial tools are driving growth in vaccine manufacturing capacity in multiple regions, with multiple technologies and within large and small countries. Already, DFC’s support is projected to facilitate capacity expansion to produce nearly 2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses across the globe, with more projects in the pipeline. The agency is also working on expanding access to critical therapeutics and introducing medical equipment designed for low-resource environments.