30/04/2026
🌍 Strengthening Africa’s Biomanufacturing Workforce
At the World Health Summit Regional Meeting 2026 in Nairobi, we were honoured to officially hand over a comprehensive set of curricula for biomanufacturing workforce development to Dr. Mariatou Tala Jallow representing Africa CDC.
Over the past 18 months, we have worked intensively in close collaboration with LUNEX to develop a suite of programmes designed to build critical skills across Africa’s biomanufacturing ecosystem, including:
▪️ M.Sc. in Biomanufacturing
▪️ Biomanufacturing Fellowship Programme
▪️ Fellowship Programme in Vaccine R&D
▪️ Industrial Fellowship Programme
▪️ Short Courses for Vaccine Production
▪️ Training of Trainers Programme
We are proud to contribute to the African Union’s ambition to produce 60% of vaccines locally. Achieving this goal will require an estimated 12,500 skilled professionals, making workforce development a central pillar of this transformation.
This is where Regional Capability and Capacity Networks (RCCNs) play a crucial role. These regionally anchored networks bring together academic institutions, research organisations, manufacturers, and regulatory authorities to build the next generation of talent for a resilient and sustainable biomanufacturing industry.
A sincere thank you to all partners and experts who contributed their insights and guidance throughout this process: Africa CDC and GIZ for their continuous coordination and support, as well as the RCCN Secretariats for ensuring strong alignment of the curricula with regional needs: Institut Pasteur du Maroc, The Egyptian Authority for Unified Procurement "UPA", Syllabi, Regional Centre of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain Management, CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and Institut Pasteur de Dakar.
Special thanks to Chiluba Mwila, Frauke Göbel, Santosh Ramchuran, Ghita Amalou, Basma Ismael, Nyandwi Jean Baptiste, and Domefafa Atiso.
This project was supported by BACKUP Health, a global programme of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH, commissioned by the Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ).
Photo credit: Andre Hugo