Johannesburg - South Africa is in the process of finalising a R25 million investment to boost pan-African vaccine manufacturing capabilities towards Covid-19 through the African Renaissance Fund, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday.
"As the international community we have been unanimous that services, supplies, products and technologies for prevention, treatment and care of Covid-19 must be available to all. No country must be left behind," he told the conference, conducted virtually because of the travel restrictions necessitated by the pandemic.
Ramaphosa said scientific innovation would play an increasingly prominent role in managing the pandemic, given that resource constraints posed a very real barrier for many vulnerable countries to do this effectively. The very first ventilators produced by the South African National Ventilator Project would soon be coming off the assembly line at a factory in Cape Town to complement existing stock in the public and private health system, the president said.