Public health

UNICEF’s Vaccine Independence Initiative (VII) is a financing and procurement facility to support low- and middle-income countries using national resources to purchase critical medical supplies. It helps governments manage temporary cash shortfalls by accessing a revolving fund through UNICEF. This ensures children and families do not miss out on essential health supplies due to temporary cash shortfalls.

VII is a particularly important vehicle for governments procuring without support from a global health donor such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Where the release of funding from multilateral banks or national budgets is delayed, the regular supply of vaccines and treatments is often interrupted.

Market situation

The VII is increasingly important, especially to middle-income countries which lack regular access to donor-funded procurement, but may not have the procurement systems or negotiating clout to secure reliable supplies and affordable prices on the open market.

Support for the VII in the form of a MedAccess guarantee expands the facility’s resources. It also gives flexibility to undertake surge procurement for emerging disease outbreaks, climate-related crises, humanitarian crises and immunisation programmes.

Public health

Africa accounts for around 17% of the world’s population and around 25% of global vaccine demand, yet more than 98% of vaccines used on the continent are imported. This dependence on overseas manufacturing leaves countries vulnerable to disruptions in global supply chains and limits regional resilience during health emergencies.

Strengthening vaccine manufacturing in Africa is a priority for governments, donors and global health organisations, since the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the risks of relying heavily on imported products.

Market situation

Vaccine manufacturing in Africa remains a small and emerging industry. African manufacturers must compete with large global suppliers that have established production facilities, lower costs and the ability to manufacture at scale. This makes it harder for individual African suppliers to secure the long-term finance needed to expand, and harder for the wider industry to develop the breadth of capabilities required for resilient regional supply.

Much of Africa’s current vaccine manufacturing is focused on fill and finish, with fewer manufacturers covering a broader manufacturing spectrum. Building end-to-end capability, including drug substance production, can take many years and requires significant investment, technology transfer and specialist expertise.