Africa must wean itself off dependence on food and medicine imports, the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) said, as the institution approved creation of a pharmaceutical tech foundation and began processing requests for food relief.
Africa was hit hard by the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Now, as many countries are still struggling to rebound, they are facing rising inflation and food shortages aggravated by the war in Ukraine.
The bank last month approved a $1.5 billion financing facility for emergency food production, with the aim of averting a looming food crisis. The funds are meant to help 20 million farmers produce 38 million tonnes of food."Once those things come to our board, they are swiftly reviewed and approved, and the money is out at the door," he said.
Adesina said the foundation would allow Africa to leverage intellectual property rights, protected technologies and innovations to expand Africa's pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing sectors.