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Biontech Inaugurates MRNA Production Facility in Kigali

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By Dolapo Aina

On Monday, December 18, 2023, according to Biopharmaceutical New Technologies (better known as BioNTech, which is a next-generation immunotherapy company pioneering therapies for cancer and other serious diseases, the corporation reached the next milestone in building mRNA production capacity with the inauguration of the company’s site in the Special Economic Zone in Kigali, Rwanda.

According to the corporation in a statement: “The inauguration takes place on the occasion of the establishment of the first production unit called BioNTainer. This is one of several BioNTech initiatives aimed at building a sustainable and resilient African vaccine ecosystem and supporting equitable access to innovative medicines worldwide: This includes research and development, clinical trials, manufacturing and training of specialists Location.”

The statement went further: “At a day-long conference titled “Collaborating to Promote Equitable Vaccine Supply in Africa,” which preceded the site’s inauguration, BioNTech met with representatives from the World Health Organization (“WHO”), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (“CEPI”) ), Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“Africa CDC”), the Rwanda Food and Drug Administration (“Rwanda FDA”), the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (“HERA”), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority to discuss opportunities and challenges in building a sustainable and resilient vaccine ecosystem in Africa. At the invitation of His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, heads of state and government from all over the world, leading representatives of the African Union, the European Union as well as the WHO and CEPI took part in the inauguration ceremony of the BioNTech site. The company’s manufacturing facility in Kigali could become the first commercial-scale mRNA production facility on the continent.”

The system is based on the company’s digital, modular high-tech production units, the so-called BioNTainers. They are designed to produce a range of mRNA-based vaccines. The BioNTainers are also designed so that they can be further developed regularly in order to remain one of the most advanced mRNA production facilities in the world in the long term. The production facility will initially be equipped with two BioNTainers. The containers for the first BioNTainer, which was recently installed in the production hall and will be used to produce mRNA as an active ingredient, arrived in Kigali in March 2023. The second BioNTainer unit will be used to produce ready-to-fill batches of the formulated active ingredient and will be ready for transport to the Rwandan site in the first quarter of 2024.

Most importantly, the production facility in Kigali has so far been fully financed by BioNTech. The company expects a total investment of approximately $150 million to build the site, including production units. The entire site is around 35,000 square meters in size and will employ around 100 people once it is fully operational. BioNTech plans to complete all buildings on the site in 2024, including a warehouse, offices and quality control laboratories, as well as qualifying on-site specialist staff.

Manufacturing of mRNA-based vaccine batches required for process validation is expected to begin in 2025. The facility will produce vaccines tailored to the needs of African Union members. Production capacity depends on the mRNA product to be produced and various factors such as dosage and formulation. For example, BioNTech could produce up to 50 million doses annually of a product whose RNA production process is similar to that of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Also important is to note that to meet the needs of the continent and partner countries, BioNTech could establish additional production facilities in Africa following the successful validation of the Kigali facility, which serves as a flagship project. Compared to the Kigali facility, additional facilities could be larger facilities that could provide more commercial-scale manufacturing capacity in Africa, or smaller facilities that could be specialized in producing batches for clinical evaluation of product candidates.

On the sidelines of the event, Prof. Dr. Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, His Excellency Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal, met to discuss a possible research partnership between the Institut Pasteur de Dakar and BioNTech that could focus on infectious diseases relevant to the African continent.

Several global dignitaries spoke at the inauguration ceremony such as President Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal who stated that: “This is a special day for Africa. BioNTech has taken an important step towards greater equity in vaccines and is a great example of a company that acts with great social responsibility. I fully support what BioNTech is doing in Rwanda and look forward to advancing a research partnership in Senegal with the Institut Pasteur in Dakar.”

President Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission went thus: “The opening of BioNTech’s first African site in Kigali is an important step towards African vaccine sovereignty. The local production of vaccines based on mRNA technology in Africa for the African population can play a crucial role in the fight against diseases and pandemics. The EU is proud to work with Rwanda and BioNTech to develop a dynamic biopharmaceutical industry on the continent. The European Global Gateway initiative is investing in vaccine production in Africa and in providing the necessary skills, jobs and capacity to drive health innovation across the continent.”
Quoting HE Moussa Faki Mahamat, who is the Chairman of the African Union Commission: “This is an important day for Africa. The African continent is working to improve access and quality of urgently needed vaccines and other medicines for all Africans. This is also the aim of the African Medicines Agency (AMA), which is based here in Kigali. We are convinced that the BioNTech production facility and the AMA will make a decisive contribution to this shared vision of a self-determined Africa. Creating a high-quality regulatory environment and ensuring vaccine independence are key to our future ability to prepare for, respond to and recover better from pandemics. Working together to advance vaccine equity for Africa remains our priority.”

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany stated: “The path to a fair international health architecture is not a short-distance run, but a team marathon. That’s why Team Europe supports the goal of Africa’s own vaccine production – from the concept to the cannula: Today only one in 100 of the vaccine doses vaccinated in Africa is also produced in Africa, by 2040 the number is expected to be sixty times more. Global Gateway is making this possible with 1.2 billion euros by 2027, with 550 million euros coming from Germany alone. BioNTech’s opening of Africa’s first mRNA vaccine factory in Rwanda is not yet the finish line – but it is a real milestone and hope for millions.”

Whilst Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director-General, Africa Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (Africa CDC) stated: “The local production agenda represents Africa’s second independence and the inauguration of the BioNTainer production facility is an important milestone in our joint efforts to increase vaccine production capacity to strengthen health security and improve access to life-saving vaccines across the African continent.”

Prof. Dr. Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech posited that: “We are committed to building a sustainable mRNA vaccine ecosystem in Africa. We focus on the development of mRNA vaccines against infectious diseases with high medical needs as well as high-end technology solutions for on-site production. Today’s inauguration of the first BioNTainer module for mRNA production is an important milestone on this path. Together with our partners, we are making progress towards our first commercial mRNA facility in Africa. It is a cornerstone of our shared vision of a sustainably healthier future. I would like to thank our local and international partners for their contributions to this shared task, as well as the entire BioNTech team for their commitment and passionate work that made this inauguration possible.”
Furthermore, Dr. Sierk Poetting, Chief Operating Officer of BioNTech started that: “The system based on BioNTainers goes beyond a purely physical structure. It represents the idea of revolutionizing the production of medicines through the combination of digital technology and standardized mRNA production. The BioNTainers are designed to provide consistent manufacturing processes that can be applied worldwide and tailored to regional needs. We have set up the BioNTainers so that they can be further developed regularly in order to remain one of the most modern mRNA production facilities in the world in the long term.”
President Paul Kagame’s speech reads:
We are very proud of the entire team from BioNTech who have worked tirelessly to deliver this project. This facility is designed to be among the most advanced in the world. Most of the staff are from Africa, including the site manager, an engineer from Nigeria. The quality is exactly the same as you would find anywhere else. Vaccine inequity hit Africa hard during the pandemic.

We found ourselves knocking on every door in search of doses. The situation was intolerable and the African Union came together to make a firm commitment that we would not allow ourselves to be in that position, ever again. That is how Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Ghana, came to be the pilot countries for vaccine manufacturing. Others have also joined and we have all made solid progress working together. Africa CDC has coordinated the Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing, led by Dr Jean Kaseya. The African Medicines Agency was created with its future headquarters here in Kigali.

I commend Chairperson Moussa Faki for his steadfast support and being a force behind all these efforts, as well as the African Union special envoys, who helped steer us through very uncertain times. You may remember that the consensus at first was that mRNA vaccines could not even be administered in Africa. It was said to be too complicated for our health systems. Then, when we embarked on this journey to manufacture these vaccines on our continent, we were told that it would take a minimum of 30 years. That was all wrong. It is possible. And because it is possible, it is also necessary.
What BioNTech’s partnership with Africa demonstrates is that vaccine technology can be democratized. But we could not have reached this point without a wider set of partnerships. The world mobilized, quickly and effectively, to support the African initiatives. President Ursula von der Leyen, I want to personally thank you for your personal involvement. Working together with other partners and the European Union, you became instrumental in initiating the collaboration with BioNTech. And the European Commission has provided crucial support to Rwanda to build our regulatory capacity, support skills and training, and fund research, as did the European Investment Bank.

Many individual partner countries stepped up as well, but today, allow me to single out Germany, which immediately put in place an extensive cooperation program. The World Health Organization has supported Rwanda’s regulator to work toward ML-3 status, in record time. The African Development Bank took the lead in establishing the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation, which will also be based here in Kigali. We thank the African Development Bank. And the International Finance Corporation has been with us from the beginning helping Rwanda to map out the long-term vision for our pharmaceutical ecosystem.

I am pleased to announce that Rwanda is moving into a new phase of collaboration with IFC to ensure that BioNTech’s investment is just the first of many. If time permitted, I would highlight many other contributions, such as those of Gavi, CEPI, and the Global Fund. The reason I wanted to mention all of this is because the real success factor in today’s milestone is trust and cooperation. And we will need more of that if we want to ensure that Africa is ready and resilient no matter what happens in the future. The presence here of our sister, Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, signals that the concern for health equity extends beyond our continent. Rwanda and Barbados have been advising and supporting each other closely on pharma manufacturing. We would like to see much deeper cooperation between Africa and the Caribbean, especially with respect to pooled procurement, to make our industries sustainable.

Adversity is often the starting point of great success. In the end, we all have something to offer each other.

President Akinwumi Adesina’s speech reads:
I wish to thank you President Kagame for inviting us to this event. It is an event that I would never miss. That is because it is the culmination of the power of vision, commitment and resoluteness to secure the lives of Africans. When Covid-19 hit, Africa suffered the most. A continent of 1.4 billion people was left exposed and vulnerable. Africa was at the bottom of the supply chains. Africa’s needs were not prioritized! We all said: Never again. Never again will the health security needs of Africa be outsourced to the benevolence of others. That is why the African Development Bank launched a $3 billion program to revamp the pharmaceutical industry in Africa. The Bank also launched the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation, with President Kagame and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel as co-Chairs of its Eminent Advisory Council. The Foundation will support ecosystems and partnerships for pharmaceutical companies such as BioNTech to thrive in Africa. And BioNTech must thrive.

I was there in Germany in 2021 during the G20 Compact with Africa in Berlin, with Chancellor Angela Merkel, when Prof. Dr. Ugur Sahin announced that his company, BioNtech, had a solution for Covid-19: mRNA technology. All eyes lit up in the room. There was enthusiasm. A solution had been found! Now, Africa needed it! Several Heads of State and Government signed up with BioNTech to provide them with access to the m-RNA technology. Among them were Rwanda, Senegal and Ghana. Today, we see the realization of this vision, with the inauguration of the BioNTech manufacturing facility.

I therefore applaud you, President Kagame for your foresight. I applaud BioNTech for prioritizing the needs of Africa, with its revolutionary BioNTainers that will be used to manufacture at least 50 million vaccine doses for phase 1. BioNtech will also deploy the m-RNA technology to tackle some of Africa’s diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis.

Since my dear sister Mia Mottley is here from the Caribbean, let me remind us of what the great Jimmy Cliff said: “I can see clearly now the rain is gone.” Never again will Africa be left behind. Thank you, President Kagame. Thank you BioNTech. Congratulations! Africa is proud of you!
The inauguration was attended by HE Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda; HE Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal; HE Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana; HE Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados; HE Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission; Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairman of the Commission of the African Union; Minister Annalena Baerbock, Federal Minister of the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany; and Minister Dr. Mathume Joseph Phaala, Minister of Health of the Republic of South Africa. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, and Gelsomina Vigliotti, Vice President of the European Investment Bank, were also in attendance amongst other dignitaries.

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What’s the Proof That Bandit Kingpin’s Mother, Sister Got 40-Years Combined Jail Term?

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June 20, 2026

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By Ekunode Ayomipo Jolaoluwa

A claim circulating online alleging that the mother and sister of a notorious bandit kingpin were sentenced to 40 years imprisonment for aiding terrorism activities has continued to generate public interest and reactions.

A review of the claim shows that Nigeria’s security agencies and judicial authorities have, in recent years, intensified efforts to dismantle criminal networks by targeting not only suspected bandits and terrorists but also individuals accused of providing logistical, financial or operational support to such groups. This approach forms part of broader efforts to curb insecurity across affected regions of the country.

However, despite the widespread circulation of the claim, available information does not provide sufficient evidence to independently confirm that the individuals depicted in the image were convicted and sentenced to a combined 40-year jail term for terrorism-related offences. No official court documents, statements from relevant authorities, or verifiable judicial records were readily available to substantiate the specific details presented in the image.

The absence of key information, including the identities of the accused persons, the location of the trial, the date of conviction, and the court that allegedly handed down the sentence, makes it difficult to establish the authenticity of the claim. Such details are critical in verifying reports of criminal convictions, particularly in cases involving terrorism and national security.

Experts in media verification advise that claims relating to criminal prosecutions should be supported by official records and credible sources before being accepted as factual. Without such supporting evidence, there remains a possibility that the information may have been presented without adequate context or may be inaccurate.

While the Nigerian government has maintained a firm stance against terrorism, banditry and related crimes, and courts have handed down significant penalties in proven cases, the specific claim regarding the alleged conviction of a bandit kingpin’s mother and sister could not be independently verified at the time of this review.

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Shalina Healthcare Launches Franchise Drive to Bridge Nigeria’s Diagnostics Testing Services’ Gap

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2 days ago

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June 18, 2026

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At a landmark two-day summit in Abuja, Africa’s fastest-growing diagnostics chain unveiled a hub-and-spoke franchise model promising a bold target of 500 Points of Care across Nigeria in next 3 years.                           

Nigeria is losing more than one million citizens every year — not to untreatable disease, but to a healthcare system that cannot tell patients what is wrong with them in time. That is the stark figure Shalina Diagnostics placed before an audience of pharmacists, doctors, clinic operators, and investors gathered this week in Abuja for the company’s inaugural Franchise Partners Meet.

The event, spanning two days at the nation’s capital, marked the most public and ambitious statement yet from a company that three years ago set out to do what no pan-African private operator has managed: build a standardised, affordable, technology-backed chain of diagnostic laboratories across Nigeria, and eventually across the continent.

Speaking to delegates, Shalina Diagnostics CEO Mr. Nalin Singla framed the problem in three simple facts: there are not enough labs; the premium chains that do exist are priced out of reach for the common man; and local labs lack the trust, the consistency, and the fast turnaround that patients and clinicians depend on.

“One million-plus Nigerians die every year due to lack of quality and timely testing. This is a problem the market cannot ignore.”

– Abbas Virji, MD, Shalina Healthcare

The company’s answer is a hub-and-spoke model it based on 3 pillars : Quality, Affordability, Availability. Under the model, franchise partners operate small patient-facing collection centres and labs, gathering samples which are then processed at Shalina’s central reference laboratories equipped with advanced diagnostic technology. Results are returned electronically with agreed turnaround times.

Shalina Healthcare Managing Director Mr. Abbas Virji, who first conceived the diagnostics arm after COVID-19 exposed the country’s testing deficit, told the summit that the network effect of scale is the key to making affordability sustainable. “By having more collection points and more scale, we can achieve lower prices for testing. The power of the community coming together, having one system — that is how we solve this.”

A BUSINESS CASE BUILT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 

For aspiring franchise partners, the numbers Shalina presented were designed to dispel the notion that healthcare is an expensive sector to enter. A collection centre can pay back within three months and a full-service satellite lab achieves payback within six months, with the potential to scale as the network grows.

 

“You bring the location. We bring the lab. That is the entire model.”

  • Nalin Singla, CEO, Shalina Diagnostics

A 27-YEAR LEGACY THAT COMMANDS TRUST 

Shalina Diagnostics does not arrive in Nigeria as an unknown quantity. Shalina Diagnostics is a company launched by Shalina Healthcare, a group that has been manufacturing and distributing medicines across Africa for more than four decades, operating in 18 countries with 108 distribution depots on the continent. In Nigeria alone, the parent company has been present for 27 years, touching the lives of 40% Nigerians through 17,000 healthcare professionals, running a one-billion-tablet factory in Lagos, and more than 150 products registered with NAFDAC. The diagnostics business, now three years old, already has over 30 locations in 4 countries.

Ms. Opeyemi Akinyele, Managing Director of Shalina Healthcare Nigeria, told the summit that the diagnostics expansion is a natural extension of a mission the company has pursued since 1999. “We are anchored in three pillars — Quality, Affordability, Availability — and we are committed to delivering better health outcomes for every Nigerian.”

The company counts household names among its Nigerian pharmaceutical brands — Shal’Artem, Ibucap, Germol, Epiderm — and has  earned the trust of the Pharmaceutical council of Nigeria and the Nigerian Medical Association, while the manufacturing facility has earned the commendation of NAFDAC & The House Committee onAIDS, TB and Malaria (ATM). That institutional credibility, the company argues, is something no start-up franchise competitor can replicate.

THE SCIENCE CASE: WHY DIAGNOSTICS CANNOT WAIT 

The clinical argument for the summit was made by Dr. S.A. Sani, Associate Professor of Surgery and Consultant Surgeon at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, who laid out in unambiguous terms why access to diagnostics is not a luxury but a prerequisite for modern medicine. “Diagnostics affect approximately 70 percent of all healthcare decision-making,” Dr. Sani told delegates. “They guide prevention, screening, treatment, and monitoring. Without them, clinicians are flying blind.”

Article contributed by Vincent Ikuomola, a health correspondent based in Abuja

 

Photo: From left: Chief Operating Officer Shalina Diagnostics, Mr. Gaurav Bahl, MD Shalina Healthcare Nigeria, Opeyemi Akinyele, Global Head Commercial, Shalina Diagnostics, Jayant Rajani, Group Managing Director, Shalina Healthcare, Mr. Abbas Virji, Chief Executive Officer Shalina Diagnostics, Mr. Nalin Singla and Country Head, Shalina Diagnostics, Manoj Walia, during the day 2 of Shalina Diagnostics Franchisee meeting in Abuja Tuesday Photo

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The Judicial Coup That Failed: How Desperate Power Mongering Manufactured the FHC Abuja Ambush Against Opposition Parties

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3 days ago

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June 17, 2026

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By Comrade Ibrahim Garba Wala (IG Wala)

The Handshake Movement has watched with a mix of amusement and deep patriotic concern the frantic, desperate, and legally hollow theatrical display performed today at the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice Peter Lifu.

Let it be known to the perpetrators of this palace script, the underground puppet masters, and the anxious Nigerian public: this is not a judgment; it is a political hatchet job dressed in judicial robes, and its bubble is already burst.

1. Stripping the Mask.
The Fingerprints of the Office of the Chief of Staff
We in The Handshake Movement do not speak in parables. We deal in hard truth and intelligence. The so-called “National Forum of Former Legislators” who initiated this suit are not independent actors driven by constitutional purism. They are political mercenaries, specifically assembled from the network of individuals who served and worked closely with the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, who today commands the office of the Chief of Staff to the President.

The strategy was simple but clumsy: use a shadow proxy group to establish plausible deniability for the presidency, while deploying the weight of the state to strangulate the political space. To make this collusion even more laughable, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, an official who is supposed to represent the entire federation, bizarrely abandoned all pretenses of neutrality in April and joined the matter as a plaintiff.

This is a textbook institutional gang-up. It is a manufactured, state-sponsored ambush designed to eliminate the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and other viable opposition platforms because the ruling elite is terrified of a fair contest in 2027.

2. The Legal Absurdity and Judicial Contempt!
To the legal mind, today’s pronouncement is a house of cards built on shifting sand. It completely collapses under the weight of two undeniable facts:

A. Overriding the Constitutional Regulator.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the only body legally empowered to register and evaluate political parties, filed an explicit counter-affidavit stating under oath that the ADC has met all constitutional thresholds, broken no laws, and that no basis for deregistration exists. For a trial judge to ignore the regulator’s own submission in favor of a proxy group’s political sentiments is an extraordinary judicial overreach.

B. Defying the Superior Court.
More egregiously, Justice Peter Lifu was fully aware of a subsisting order of the Court of Appeal issued on May 22, 2026, directing a strict stay of proceedings on this very matter. By choosing to flagrantly bypass an active directive from a superior court to rush out this verdict, the judge has engaged in a form of institutional rascality that undermines the entire hierarchy of the Nigerian judiciary.

3. The Panicked Subversion of a Failing Regime.
We must ask ourselves: Why the panic?
Why the desperation to wipe viable alternatives off the ballot right after they have successfully concluded their primaries and fields?

The answer lies in the streets of Nigeria. The incumbent administration is facing a massive, irreversible crisis of legitimacy. Having failed completely to secure the lives of our citizens from rampant insecurity, and having plunged millions of families into unprecedented, crushing economic hardship and starvation, the ruling party knows it cannot face the Nigerian electorate in 2027 on the merit of performance.
Because they cannot convince the voters, they have resorted to trying to choose the voters’ options for them. This judgment is a desperate attempt to manufacture a civilian dictatorship by judicial decree. They want to hand a second term to the incumbent without a contest.

Our Unshakeable Position: The Bubble is Burst.
The Handshake Movement warns those who are playing with this political fire to cease and desist immediately. Nigeria belongs to its citizens, not to the whims, caprices, and survival instincts of a panicked cabal operating from the corridors of power.

1. To the Judiciary.
We are immediately petitioning the National Judicial Council (NJC). A judge who actively disregards an appellate court’s stay of proceedings order cannot be allowed to bring the entire legal institution into disrepute for partisan convenience.

2. To our Candidates, Mobilisers, and Millions of Citizens.
Remain completely calm, resolute, and focused. This judgment is legally dead on arrival. The moment the appeal is entered and an immediate Stay of Execution is filed, this desperate ambush is frozen. Do not halt your campaigns. Do not slow down your grassroots structures.

3. To the Oppressors.
You have miscalculated. By trying to bury the opposition through backdoor maneuvering, you have only succeeded in unmasking your desperation and uniting the democratic forces of this country against you.

The ADC and the coalition of progressive movements will be on the ballot in 2027. Democracy cannot, and will not, be strangled in Nigeria.

Comrade Ibrahim Garba Wala (IG Wala) is the Lead Advocate, The Handshake Movement

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