Tag Archive for: Senegal

Sisipho Ntsabo
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Senegal to start manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines

Senegal has joined the list of African countries to secure the patent right to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccines in 2022. The country has signed a deal with Belgian biotech group, Univercells to produce these vaccines in the next year. Senegal joins the likes of Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa in the list of African countries that have successfully secured the rights to produce the jabs.

In April, Univercells announced the signing of a letter of intent for collaboration with the Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal. Under the Univercells agreement, the Institut Pasteur supplies Covid-19 vaccines to countries across West Africa using vaccine production technology developed by Univercells. The initial packaging and distribution of these vaccines would begin early next year.

This is good news for Africa. As we reported in our last article, Africa is currently undergoing its third wave. Out of a continent of 1.3 billion people, only 7 million people have been fully vaccinated. Institut Pasteur director Amadou Sall says that the facility is at work with donors to secure financial backing for this huge project. Furthermore, Sall adds that there is a lot of political will for this project to create a real opportunity in Africa.

In other good news, the European Union (EU) said last month that it is willing to invest at least 1bn to build manufacturing hubs in Africa, with Senegal, SA, Rwanda, Morocco, and Egypt among the leading candidates. South Africa’s Biovac Institute has been in contact with the German and French governments and their respective pharmaceutical companies to produce 30m Covid-19 vaccines annually. Further, South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare is already in the process of Janssen vaccine shots locally.

Senegal will be a great destination for investment, and we are proud to offer services for Immigration and Relocation services into Dakar, Senegal. Please contact us for further information.

Have a look at the brief overview, housing, school and immigration information about Senegal on our locations website: https://www.relocationafrica.com/locations/senegal/

 

 

 

Andrew Stegmann

Visa-free travel in Africa for Africans: Ghana makes most progress

For Africans, travelling the continent can be tedious, as only 10 of its 55 territories grant either visa-free entry or visas on arrival to all Africans. In fact, it can be easier for Americans or Europeans to travel the continent than for its own citizens. This impacts economic growth, as restrictions to the free movement of people ultimately limits intra-regional trade, investment and business expansion. 

However, according to the African Development Bank’s Africa Visa Openness Report, there have been some improvements. The report measures and ranks countries by how easy it is for visitors from other African states to gain entry (i.e. whether they get visa-free access, visas on arrival, or have to apply for a visa). In 2016, over a third of countries introduced more liberal visa policies. These include South Africa, which has approved a 10-year multiple-entry visa for African businesspeople and academics, as well as São Tomé et Príncipe granting 13 African countries visa-free access.

But it is Ghana that has made the greatest progress – it has jumped to sixth place on the index, up from 22nd in 2015. Former president John Dramani Mahama announced last year a decision to issue visas on arrival for African Union member states, valid for 30 days. These are currently issued at Accra’s Kotoka International Airport, with other ports of entry expected to follow suit. Ghana now offers visa-free access to nearly a third of all African countries, and visas on arrival to about two-thirds.

Senegal, Tunisia and Malawi have also made noticeable improvements. Senegal has joined the top 20 countries on the index (ranked in 15th place), currently granting visa-free access to 42 countries (up from 16 in 2015). Tunisia now provides 21 countries visa-free entry, while Malawi offers liberal access to citizens of half the countries on the continent (up from a third in 2015).

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