• The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission will provide a blended financing package worth up to €95 million ($110 million) to BioNTech for its mRNA vaccine factory in Kigali.
• The Kigali facility, under construction since 2022, could become Africa’s first commercial mRNA vaccine manufacturing site.
• The project aligns with the African Union’s goal to produce 60% of vaccines used on the continent by 2040.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Africa has sought to strengthen its vaccine manufacturing capacity. Currently, the continent produces only about 1% of the vaccines it uses. The African Union aims to raise that figure to 60% by 2040 to boost health security and self-sufficiency.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission announced on October 13, 2025, that they will jointly provide up to €95 million in blended financing to BioNTech SE. The package includes a €35 million grant from the European Commission and a potential €60 million loan from the EIB.

This financing will accelerate the development of BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine manufacturing plant in Kigali, Rwanda. The facility has been under construction since 2022 and aims to produce affordable vaccines targeting major infectious diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and African swine fever, once candidate vaccines receive approval.

If successful, the Kigali site will become the first commercial-scale mRNA vaccine production facility on the African continent.

“The establishment of this pioneering facility in Rwanda as the region’s first mRNA vaccine manufacturing site, built according to globally recognized good manufacturing practices, will strengthen regional vaccine capacity and enable faster responses to public health threats, including emerging epidemics,” said Dr. Amadou Sall, Executive Director for Manufacturing and Supply Chain at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

In 2024, CEPI granted €130 million to support BioNTech’s African initiative.

According to Dr. Sall, the project “will contribute significantly to the Africa CDC’s goal of producing 60% of the vaccines needed on the continent by 2040, thereby enhancing regional health security and pandemic preparedness.”

Beyond health benefits, the Kigali facility is expected to create local jobs and foster the training of engineers, technicians, and researchers.

SG