News
Nigeria Approves Oxford’s New Malaria Vaccine
Federal government has granted regulatory approval for the R21/Matrix, the malaria vaccine developed by scientists at Oxford University to fight the disease in the country.
This was announced by Mrs Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC), during a press briefing on Monday.
R21/Matrix-M has shown great success during its trials in Burkina Faso, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) threshold putting it at 75 per cent efficacy, while its effectiveness stood at 77 per cent when administered in three doses.
According to the World Malaria Report, there were 247 million cases of the illness in 2021 compared to 245 million in 2020.
The estimated number of deaths stood at 619, 000 in 2021, with Nigeria accounting for at least 31 per cent of them.
Mrs Adeyeye said that the vaccine is to address the prevention of malaria in children from five months to 36 months of age, adding that Nigeria has the highest prevalence of malaria in the world with over 27 per cent and the highest number of global malaria deaths of 32 per cent.
According to Mrs Adeyeye, a full review using the standards of the World Health Organisation was carried out on the vaccine to ensure its efficacy, safety, and quality.
The development comes days after Ghana became the first country to approve the vaccine.
Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority approved the vaccine’s use in children aged between five months to three years as the West African country strengthens its efforts to control malaria-related child mortality.
An earlier vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Mosquirix, had an effectiveness rating of about 60 per cent but was approved by WHO since there was no alternative in sight.
It was only 30 per cent effective in preventing severe cases. It required at least four doses to be effective, although its effectiveness waned with time.
GSK committed to producing 15 million doses of Mosquirix annually till 2028, but it reportedly fell short of the 100 million required for long-term intervention.
EFCC
The African Development Bank Group last week approved an investment of €6.5 million in the Saviu II fund in order to support technology start-ups through their seed phase and first institutional fundraising, mainly in French-speaking Central and West Africa.
The Bank will invest €4.5 million as equity and €2 million as a first-loss hedging tranche on behalf of the European Commission, under the Boost Africa Programme.
This participation of the Bank Group will enable the Saviu II fund to give priority to companies with a strong technological or digital component.
Saviu II, the second investment vehicle of Saviu Partners, plans to invest between €500,000 and €3 million in about 20 technology or technology-oriented business-to-business start-ups in the seed phase or carrying out first institutional fundraising.
The Saviu II venture capital fund aims to make at least 60% of its commitments in the French-speaking countries of West and Central Africa: Côte d ‘Ivoire, Cameroon, Benin, Senegal, Togo, Burkina Faso and Mali.
The fund can also co-invest in promising technology companies in East Africa that have a strong team and business model, and whose strategy includes entering the market in French-speaking West African countries and establishing a strong presence there.
In addition, the fund will devote a dedicated envelope to pre-seed investments, focusing on minority equity investments, usually in co-investment with studios, incubators or other ecosystem partners.
Nigerian Government has signed a $1.3 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) via the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) to fund an alumina refinery, national geoscience mapping, and a strategic investment vehicle for mining growth.
Special Assistant to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, said the refinery will process one million tonnes of bauxite yearly using a modern Bayer process, powered by an on-site gas-fired cogeneration plant.
Minister Dele Alake called it a transformative milestone boosting GDP, aligning with reforms that improve investment climate, regulations, and licensing to attract private capital. He directed agencies to fast-track permits.
The 20-year project at 95% utilization eyes 19 million tonnes total output, $1.2 billion annual GDP addition, $25 billion economic impact, and $8 billion forex earnings, per feasibility studies.
SMDF Executive Secretary Fatima Shinkafi termed it the agency’s biggest funding deal, supporting value-addition policy.
The partnership extends to geoscience mapping for mineral data, de-risking exploration, and a joint vehicle for mining assets.
Permanent Secretary Engr. Farouk Yabo praised the reforms. Shinkafi signed for government; AFC’s Franklin Edochie for the corporation, witnessed by AFC CEO Samaila Zubairu.
Tomori positioned it as Nigeria’s largest private mining investment and FDI magnet.
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