Ramaphosa: New Vaccine Facility in Cape Town Demonstrates African Continent is Becoming Self-Reliant

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the newly launched vaccine manufacturing facility campus at Brackengate in Cape Town will usher in a new era in healthcare, medicines and vaccines for the African continent. 

Ramaphosa was speaking at NantSA on Thursday which was launched in collaboration with South African-American billionaire technology healthcare scientist, Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong and his company NantWorks LLC. 

NantSA is aimed mainly at building vaccine manufacturing and pharmaceutical capacity for the African continent including developing a new COVID-19 vaccine.

Ramaphosa said the opening of the plant is a demonstration of how the African continent is moving forward and becoming self-reliant.

 “As the African Union champion of COVID-19, South Africa supports vaccine manufacturing in Africa to ensure that we become self-sufficient as continent.” 

Soon-Shiong described the investment as a token of giving back to the country of his birth.