The President of the World Bank, David Malpass, and his senior management team comprised of Axel van Trotsenburg and Makhtar Diop met with the African Union’s COVID-19 Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) to discuss modalities for a partnership that will accelerate vaccine deployment to Africa.
In a historic COVID-19 vaccine procurement agreement signed on 28 March 2021, the AVATT had previously successfully secured up to 400 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine with the support of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). “In providing a US$2billion guarantee on behalf of the African Union member states, we were able to help put Africa in a strong negotiating position with producers as we negotiated vaccine procurement. It was obvious to us at AVATT that no deal will have been possible without a strong financial backing “the President of Afreximbank, Prof Benedict Oramah said.