European Union (EU) and German Development Cooperation (GIZ) support institutional and technical strengthening of Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA)

The Project will ensure that the FDA has enhanced capacity regarding facilities and personnel to ensure quality, safety and efficacy of locally manufactured vaccines that meet international standards. It will also upgrade the FDA from a World Health Organisation (WHO) Maturity Level 3 to a Maturity Level 4 regulatory agency for vaccines. There will also be an upgrade of the FDA’s pharmaceutical microbiology laboratory to a biosafety level 3. In addition, the FDA’s inspection and licensing and market authorisation functions will be strengthened.

The institutional and technical strengthening of the FDA was conceived by the European Union and German Development Cooperation’s collaboration to support the implementation of Ghana’s first major strategic intervention in local vaccine production. It forms part of the five strategic interventions in the 10-year Government of Ghana vaccine manufacturing roadmap. Key among the strategies is to “upgrade and strengthen Ghana’s FDA”.

“As of today, the African continent produces only 1% of its vaccine needs. Ghana’s decision to build a Pan-African vaccine-manufacturing hub is an important turning point. Germany is proud to be associated with the Government of Ghana in this ground-breaking quest. We are looking forward to how this effort will serve the people of Ghana and Africa for many generations to come,” noted the German Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Ambassador Daniel Krull, in a statement at the launch.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed gaps in health systems globally and highlighted the importance of vaccines, which have become a priority for many governments including Ghana. To strengthen Ghana’s health care system, the Government of Ghana has found opportunity in the pandemic to make Ghana a vaccine manufacturing country.

The immediate goal is to have the first batch of ‘fill and finish’ COVID-19 vaccines by 2024. This value chain will later be scaled up to produce other vaccines, including childhood immunisation (EPI) vaccines and malaria vaccines.

“As part of the EU-Africa Global Gateway Investment Package, we will continue to support manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies under the wider Team Europe initiative and strengthen health systems with the required capacity for emergency and pandemic preparedness. The EU and its Member States will continue to support the Government of Ghana in its efforts on regulatory strengthening, research and development and industrial development, supply chain and private sector development, towards vaccine production,” said EU Ambassador to Ghana, Irchad Razaaly.

The Global Gateway Africa – Europe Investment Package aims to mobilise up to €150 billion in investments between 2021 and 2027 for Africa to support a strong, inclusive, green and digital recovery and transformation including strengthening health systems.

The FDA as the main regulatory body is central to the vaccine manufacturing process in ensuring that vaccines produced meet international standards for quality, safety, and efficacy.

The support to Ghana’s FDA is in the framework of the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) on manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines, and health technologies (also known as “MAV+”) in Africa. The initiative will help create an enabling environment for local vaccines manufacturing in Africa and tackle barriers and demand-side challenges, backed by €1 billion from the EU budget and the European Development Finance Institutions such as the European Investment Bank (EIB).