Preparations are underway for the mass rollout of the world’s first malaria vaccine to protect millions of children in Africa.
The rollout is being funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for nearly $160 million.
The World Health Organization said Gavi’s multimillion-dollar funding marks a key advance in the fight against one of Africa’s most severe public health threats. It noted that countries in sub-Saharan Africa bear the brunt of the yearly toll of more than 240 million global cases of malaria, including more than 600,000 reported deaths. The main victims are children under age 5.
WHO regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said one child dies every minute in Africa, with catastrophic consequences for families, communities and national development.
The vaccine was introduced in Africa in 2019. Since then, more than 1.3 million children have benefited from the lifesaving inoculations in three pilot countries – Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. Moeti said those countries have reported a 30 percent drop in hospitalizations of children with severe malaria and a 9% reduction in child deaths.
“If delivered at scale, millions of new cases could be averted, and tens of thousands of lives saved every year,” Moeti said. “We were encouraged to see that demand for the vaccine is high, even in the context of COVID-19, with the first dose reaching between 73% to over 90% coverage.”
Thabani Maphosa, managing director of country programs at Gavi, called the vaccine the most effective tool in the fight against malaria, one that will save children’s lives. However, he said, demand for the lifesaving product will outstrip supply.
“Our challenge during this critical phase is to ensure the doses we have available are used as effectively and equitably as possible,” Maphosa said. “With this is mind, Gavi today is opening an application window for malaria support.”
He said the three pilot countries, which already have experience in rolling out the vaccine, will get first crack at applying for and receiving funding. So, practically speaking, Maphosa said, they will require little help in setting up their systems to get the operation underway.
Maphosa said a second round of funding will take place at the end of the year. At that time, he said other countries with moderate to high cases of severe malaria can submit applications for support.
Africa prepares rollout of world’s first Malaria Vaccine
COVID-19 vaccination remains a key priority for Africa
Dr. Ahmed Ouma, Acting Director of the Africa CDC, affirmed that COVID-19 vaccination remains a key priority for Africa, as the continent works towards a target of ensuring 70 percent of the population is vaccinated by the end of this year. So far, two African countries have achieved a vaccination rate of 70 percent, and six African countries have vaccinated between 40 and 70 percent of their populations. Overall, less than 20 percent of the people in Africa are fully vaccinated.
“We commemorate the first anniversary of the Mastercard Foundation’s partnership with the Africa CDC to purchase and deliver millions of vaccines and drive long-term health security in Africa. We reiterate our commitment and drive towards the new public health order, which calls for a strengthened Africa CDC and our National Public Health Institute. To increase investment in the public health workforce and train the next generation of leaders and experts. Finally, to expand local manufacturing of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics, which will ensure quick access and reduced costs in the continent,” he said.
Dr. Ahmed Ouma also emphasized the importance of focusing vaccination efforts on young people, given that 70 percent of Africa’s population is under the age of 30. The African Union and Africa CDC, under the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative, recently launched an initiative called Bingwa (a Swahili word meaning champion) to recruit young people as vaccine advocates in their communities.
Speaking on the one-year commemoration, Reeta Roy, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation, highlighted that the next phase of the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative would focus on turning vaccine delivery into vaccinations.
“We must lean in and focus on vaccination uptake. It is an opportunity to work with governments to help set up vaccination centres, train and support health care workers, and engage directly with communities to understand the importance of getting vaccinated to secure the lives and livelihoods of their loved ones,” she said.
Moving forward, the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative will include a strong focus on Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) to enable African citizens, particularly young people, and rural populations, to understand the safety and benefits of vaccination. RCCE will play a crucial role in creating demand for and uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations and supporting other non-pharmaceutical efforts to break the transmission chain and mitigate the pandemic’s impact.
The Mastercard Foundation and Africa CDC launched the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative – a now $1.5 billion partnership.
The historic initiative – the largest public health partnership between a global philanthropic organization and an African institution – has proven to be catalytic. The Saving Lives and Livelihoods commitment to purchase 65 million vaccine doses was instrumental in enabling the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust to negotiate and secure 510 million doses for Africa from vaccine manufacturers. The initiative also helped inform the decision of African Union Heads of State to designate the Africa CDC as an autonomous public health agency. Additionally, the initiative has delivered over 15 million vaccines across the continent since its launch while deploying rapid responders to accelerate vaccination campaigns in countries at-risk of vaccine expiration.
SPEARHEADING DIGITAL BANKING
On Thursday, July 21 2022, an official contract signing ceremony took place at The Sheraton Addis, with CR2’s CEO Fintan Byrne and Teferi Mekonnen, CEO of Oromia Bank. The contract signage cemented Oromia Bank’s selection of CR2’s BankWorld to advance their Digital Banking Transformation Strategy in Ethiopia.
CR2 which is a leading global channel-banking software provider delivering digital and ATM technology to financial institutions in more than 60 countries, through its twitter handled expressed, “This is another great win for CR2 as we continue to expand our presence in Ethiopia and build on our existing relationships within the market.”
Capital’s Metasebia Teshome, following the contract inking caught up with CR2’s CEO Fintan Byrne for a candid interview on the promising digital banking space of Ethiopia, and what customers ought to expect from this new partnership. Excerpts;
Capital: What does CR2 do?
Fintan Byrne: We provide digital banking and payment platforms to enable banks to execute their successful digital transformation strategies. So what that simply means is that we allow banks to utilize our technology to make sure that their customers whether they’re retail, SME or corporate, successfully transact digitally across mobile, internet, cards, and other channels that we support on our platforms.
We provide banks with Digital, Self-Service and Payments solutions to grow their business, optimize their customer service cost and deliver an enhanced customer experience. Our Digital Banking Platform enables banks to provide innovative, cost effective and end-to-end digital customer journeys across mobile, internet, self-service and payments.
Headquartered in Ireland, we are enabling over 100 banks in 60 countries seamlessly connect and engage with their customers on the most critical banking channels today and 35 on the continent of Africa alone. So we have a deep heritage in the market here. We’ve been in business in Africa for more than 20 years, and in Ethiopia for more than 10 years.
We work with some of the biggest banks like Absa, Standard Chartered Bank, Standard Bank and we’re delighted today to be announcing that we’ve signed a long term partnership with the Oromia bank to help them execute their digital transformation strategy as they try to grow and enhance their business.
Capital: How important is the agreement with Oromia bank for CR2 and the bank itself?
Fintan Byrne: It is equally very important for both CR2 and Oromia bank. For us, we see it as a long term partnership and we look forward to having successful years with the bank. Furthermore, for us, it gives us a jolt of confidence that a very successful bank like Oromia bank has chosen our platform as the platform to enable their digital transformation strategy. So it’s very important from that perspective, in giving us a lot of confidence. At a larger scale, it will also help us to expand our presence in Ethiopia. Thus it deepens our business here allowing us to continue investing and growing our team.
Capital: What benefits does this agreement give to customers of the bank?
Fintan Byrne: If you think about consumer needs, it is changing quite rapidly, in terms of not only just banking but also in other technologies as well as other industries. And we believe that our platform is the best platform to allow banks to really unlock the capabilities that they need to provide services on an Omni channel basis. So whenever the customer wants to transact, whether it’s on their mobile, internet, with a card, or whether it’s out of merchant, we provide that comprehensive solution to allow banks to allow their consumers to interact with the bank with the right service in the right channel at the right time, which is also 24/7.
So the key thing we do is providing a platform which allows banks like Oromia bank to differentiate their solution and design the journeys that they want for their consumers. This can entail designing solutions for customers and bettering bank interactions with customers at different market segments, and later use distinctive branding so as to cater for the different customers in the best way possible.
Capital: Do you think Ethiopia has an attractive market for digital banking?
Fintan Byrne: Yes, the Ethiopian market is indeed very attractive. With more than 112 million people, Ethiopia is the second-most populous nation in Africa and is home to the fastest growing economy on the continent. Ethiopia’s large population of unbanked, the government’s current digital push, and recent finance reforms are bringing new opportunities for fintech startups and financial innovation.
To bring Ethiopia into the digital era, promote innovation and improve financial inclusion, big reforms are needed. Banks are adopting new products and technology to give variety and quality of services to address their customers’ satisfaction.
Service quality and customer satisfaction have a positive relationship because customer’s satisfaction is one of the essential components of any organizations strategies, as the customer is the ultimate source of income for any industry. The quality of banking service is tested and measured here by the customer’s satisfaction.
Appreciating the technology in abundance, daily indoor and outdoor activities are carried out with the help of technology made devices and Fintech innovations. With all these collaborations in place it is positive to see Ethiopian banks on the same side for a change.
These digital developments are very essential for the overall financial sector and for creating the necessary foundations for an efficient retail payment system and broader financial inclusion within the country. Thus these steps being undertaken provide a very attractive and ripe market for digital banking.
Capital: How do you see digital banking evolving in the next 3 – 5 years?
Fintan Byrne: These new developments are expected to boost Ethiopia’s fintech sector, which industry observers and participants are confident that it will become the next fintech hub in Africa.
The future of banking is here, and as we examine, changes are expected to play out over the next few years in retail banking.
There will be high competition between technology providers in the years ahead. Cloud-based ERP, automation, and cognitive innovation will continue a pace, creating opportunities to radically simplify processes and free up people’s ways of doing things.
The current market is barely touched and has an ever growing potential. In addition, there is an additional major amendment regulation, which is the opening up of the financial sector and will continue to boost healthy innovative competition, which will bolster digital banking in the country.
When it comes to the field of Finance, we consider it our job to anticipate how organizations will evolve. And as the finance sector enters its golden age of technology, we can be able to drastically reduce the complexity and cost of technology, without sacrificing functionality. Thus I envision a progressive three to five years in the space of digital banking in the country.
Capital: Does CR2 have plans to expand its investment in Ethiopia?
Fintan Byrne: Very much so. Ethiopia is a very important market for us. We work with a lot of banks and today we are excited to add Oromia bank to that roster. We are more than interested to expand our investments through reaching out to other financial institutions since the market in Ethiopia is very attractive. To that regard we look forward to working with other financial firms on our platform.
Nebiyu Abate Zimmer
Name: Nebiyu Abate Zimmer
Education: Diploma
Company name: Zimmer Security
Title: Founder and CEO
Founded in: 2018
What it do: Security guard services
Hq: Bole behind DH Geda Mall
Number of Employees: 218
Startup capital: 25,000 birr
Current Capital: 350,000 birr
Reason for starting the Business: Self sufficiency
Biggest perk of ownership: Giving the best trust worthy service
Biggest strength: staying in this competitive market
Biggest challenge: Developing a foothold
Plan: Making our firm a competitive company
First career: None
Most interested in meeting: No one
Most admired person: My families
Stress reducer: Sport
Favorite past time: Work
Favorite book: None
Favorite destination: None
Favorite automobile: Volkswagen ID.4
