Kigali, 18 December 2023
Today, President of the Republic of Rwanda Paul Kagame and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen met to discuss how to take the EU-Rwanda partnership forward, including with mutually beneficial investments under the EU Global Gateway strategy.
The European Union and its Member States in a Team Europe approach are investing more than €900 million in Rwanda under Global Gateway, Europe’s investment programme for the world. The Presidents discussed investments in areas including health, critical raw materials, the agro-food industry, climate resilience and education.
President von der Leyen announced an additional €40 million Global Gateway investment in the development of a vibrant biopharmaceutical industry and local manufacturing of vaccines, medicines and health products in Rwanda, which was welcomed by President Kagame.
The funds will benefit particularly higher, technical and vocational education and training, research and development, entrepreneurship, and supply chains.
With the investment announced today, Team Europe’s support to local manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Rwanda amounts to approximately €94 million.
The Presidents also witnessed the signature of the Joint Declaration on Critical Raw Materials Value Chains between the Government of Rwanda and the European Investment Bank. The declaration builds on the robust working relationship between the EU and Rwanda in the mining sector and paves the way for an even more significant and comprehensive strategic partnership in the field of critical raw materials under the Global Gateway strategy.
President Kagame said:
“As a continent, we still rely heavily on imports for vaccines and medicines. We want to change this, and the long-term solution is to strengthen our manufacturing and scientific capacity. Again, the European Union has been very active in this, trying to support us in this development. Earlier today, the President and I attended the inauguration of BioNTech’s vaccine manufacturing site. The European Union, and President von der Leyen personally, helped to make this a reality.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said:
“On the global scene, the EU and Rwanda see eye-to-eye on many matters and we warmly welcomeRwanda‘s climate leadership. Rwanda is alsoa key partner for Europe under Global Gateway, which is investing150 billion euros in Africa. Global Gateway,Europe’s investment strategy for the world, comes with the highest environmental and social standards, and with transparency. We share technology and knowledge, and we train the local workforce. We bring the support of the entire Team Europe, from public and financing institutions, and private sector investment. All this helps to create good, local jobs for Rwandans.” Approximately €380 million of Global Gateway investments by Team Europe support the development of the agro-food industry.
Team Europe also invests almost €320 million in sustainable, climate-proof cities, including in urban mobility, and an estimated €100 million in inclusive pre-primary education in Rwanda.
The government of Rwanda confirmed its interest to commence negotiations on an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU and agreed to launch a process to scope the negotiations.
President Kagame and President von der Leyen welcomed Rwanda signing the Samoa Agreement in Brussels just before their bilateral meeting. The Samoa Agreement will form the foundation of the partnership between the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States for the next 20 years.
Source – EU Commission
Press statement by President von der Leyen with Rwandan President Kagame
Dear President Kagame,
Thank you very much for the warm welcome. The European Union and Rwanda share strong ties. I am here today to express just how important this partnership and friendship is to the European Union. And we think there is a lot of common potential that is still to be unleashed. Global Gateway is investing round about EUR 900 million in Rwanda. But important is not just how much we are investing but also how we are investing. For us, it is very important to come with high environmental and social standards, and with transparency. We want to share technology and knowledge because that is crucial for a genuine partnership. I think it is important to train the local workforce because investment in people is the most sustainable investment you can think of. And we want to create good local jobs, for the people of Rwanda by bringing in public but also private investment.
Let me briefly look at three different elements. The first one is indeed the health sector. We have just inaugurated BioNTech Africa, an mRNA-producing facility to manufacture vaccines at scale on the continent. This means, vaccines made in Africa, for the African people. And it serves Rwanda’s ambition to become a leader in vaccines and health services in Africa. So we have discussed today the intense work that we are doing together. Global Gateway, or the European Union, is organising twinning meetings between the Rwandese health authorities and their counterparts in the European Union. We are financing lab equipment, e-health technologies and medical skills programmes. All these are very important to have a conducive environment for the private investors. We have just signed a EUR 40 million Team Europe funding package to invest in Rwanda’s pharmaceutical and biotechnological sectors with a very special focus on research, development and entrepreneurship.
The second element is that Global Gateway delivers for the agricultural business industry. It is a strong sector here in Rwanda but it is also an industry or a sector that is faced with several challenges: price volatility, scarcity and the impact of climate change. And here, Global Gateway invests with EUR 380 million in the competitiveness of the food industry in Rwanda. In particular, we are very much looking forward to the construction of the Kigali Wholesale Market – a big and very ambitious project. It will become the central distribution hub in Eastern and Central Africa for fresh and processed food. And therefore, this will have an exceptional impact on job creation for the people here in Rwanda.
The third sector is the focus on the value chains for critical raw materials. And here, we have just seen the agreement between Rwanda and the European Investment Bank, we are also about to sign a cooperation on critical raw materials between the European Union and Rwanda. We want to go – and this is a crucial point – beyond exploration and extraction. Sharing skills, so that Rwanda can develop activities with high value added, like processing but also refining. And this will help Rwanda’s companies access new markets and export to partners.
I want to commend you for the strong partners in fighting climate change, and our joint work at COP28. Here, I want to thank you for initiatives like the rolling-out of renewable energy. You have the resources in abundance here. And I want to thank you for the leadership on climate and the environment. You are leading the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution. And you are a shining example on how beneficial it is for the country. You have joined the Global Methane Pledge. Thank you very much for joining our Global Pledge to double energy efficiency and triple the amount of renewables by 2030 globally. And you are a frontrunner in using innovative tools for climate mitigation and adaptation.
To conclude, I welcome the signing of the Samoa Agreement. It will be the foundation of the partnership between the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States for the next 20 years. So we are in it for the long haul and I want to thank you for being a trusted partner.
Thank you very much.
Source – EU Commission
Keynote speech by President von der Leyen at the BioNTech Africa Launch Ceremony
Kigali, 18 December 2023
Dear President Kagame, dear Paul,
President Sall, dear Macky,
President Akufo-Addo, dear Nana,
Prime Minister Mottley, dear Mia,
Chairperson Faki, dear Moussa,
Minister Baerbock, liebe Annalena,
Minister Phaahla,
Lieber Uğur Şahin,
Liebe Özlem Türeci,
Distinguished guests,
The great African writer Chinua Achebe called it, ‘the power of togetherness’. This cutting-edge facility would not have been possible without the shared experience and expertise that we each bring to the table. It is a story of teamwork – between pioneering scientists and innovative businesses, between Africa and Europe, and between government, finance and regulation.
The story started decades ago. Back in the 1990s, two scientists began working on the new kind of technology. mRNA technology was so innovative that they had a difficult time finding money for their research. Now fast-forward two decades: Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman win the Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023. Their discoveries on mRNA helped save millions of lives around the world. This is also thanks to Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci. These two brilliant entrepreneurs and scientists founded BioNTech. Their company developed a vaccine against COVID-19 that was more than 90% effective. This was the big story during the pandemic. But that is not all. mRNA vaccines were produced in record time, faster than any other vaccine in history.
However, ramping up global production capacities remained a huge challenge. Billions of people around the globe needed their doses. But only few plants were able to deliver. I remember, dear President Kagame, our conversation in Paris in 2021, it was at the height of the pandemic. We agreed that Rwanda and Europe must work together not only to bring vaccines to Africa, but to bring vaccine production and mRNA technology to Africa. So, we got together with world-leading companies, like BioNTech. Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, your scientific excellence, your entrepreneurial spirit and your social engagement put BioNTech in the starring role of this joint endeavour. We teamed up with Rwanda, Ghana, Senegal and South Africa. And we built and we are building the first vaccine manufacturing capacity, mRNA producing capacity, on the continent – here in Kigali.
To date, we have, together, already mobilised EUR 1.2 billion as Team Europe. And it is amazing to think that in just two years, these BioNTainers will be producing up to 50 million of doses of vaccines per year. And we are not only speaking about battling the coronavirus. But it is about breaking new ground in the fight against, as you have said, Uğur, tuberculosis, malaria and potentially even cancer. This is the true power of togetherness and technology.
This is also the winning formula behind Global Gateway – Europe’s global investment programme. We are, together, mobilising all our assets. Here in Rwanda, Global Gateway is strengthening the regulatory capacity. It is so important to create a conducive environment for producing pharmaceuticals. We are supporting the Rwanda Food and Drug Administration. And we are investing together in skills and training, mostly dual vocational training, so that local good jobs are created here in your pharma ecosystem. And of course, we are partnering on higher education, connecting Kigali University with counterparts in Europe that specialise in biotechnology. This experience is teaching all of us how we can better work together, also with the private sector. The magic really lies in the public-private teamwork. Through public funding, training and enabling regulation, we can provide the long-term predictability that private investors need to start ambitious projects like this one. It is the whole package that counts.
According to these principles, we are also constructing with President Macky Sall a second manufacturing site in Senegal. Team Europe has accompanied the Senegalese national strategy for relaunching the pharmaceutical industry. Vaccine production capacity is now within reach at the Pasteur Institute of Dakar. In Ghana, we support, dear President Akufo-Addo, your efforts to strengthen the capacities of the Food and Drugs Authority, and the cooperation of the so-called DEK vaccine facility. And we are even expanding this initiative to Latin America and the Caribbean.
Dear Prime Minister Mottley,
I am very glad that you have joined us here today, many thanks for that. What is happening here in Rwanda can also happen in Barbados. And with the South-South cooperation, we are very keen to support this potential vaccine project in Barbados. We can be proud of how much we have achieved together, and of course, of how much we can still achieve. That is why today, we will sign an agreement of an additional EUR 40 million to support Rwanda in its mission to become a centre of medical and technological excellence, and to support the African Union, dear Moussa, to succeed in the goal that you have set yourself. I have never forgotten that you told me that today, Africa is producing 1% of the vaccines that are used in Africa and that the common goal is that by 2040 you are producing 60% of the vaccines needed on the continent. So I think, we are getting much closer to that goal, which is a real good one, and we should join forces to achieve it.
I will leave the final words to Chinua Achebe: ‘Let us smile not because we do not have problems but because we are stronger than the problems.’
Thank you so much.
Source – EU Commission