BERLIN, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Germany's state-owned investment and development bank KfW has signed a promotional loan agreement with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), a multilateral financial institution headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, worth 250 million euros (290 million U.S. dollars), KfW said on Tuesday.
The loan would be used for the acquisition, distribution and production of vaccines, medical supplies and drugs for the treatment of COVID-19, according to KfW, which signed the agreement on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
"The African continent has been hard hit by the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic," said Christiane Laibach, member of the KfW Group's Executive Board. "This is why it is important to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the health of the population and the economy."
The project would offer loans to countries that cannot pay for the provision of vaccines from their own liquidity, according to KfW. Furthermore, funds would be provided to companies that manufacture medical and pharmaceutical products.
Funding would also be provided to a special initiative launched with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) to support, in particular, capacity-building projects for African manufacturers, suppliers and importers in the food and medical supplies sectors, according to KfW.
"The development and strengthening of local production capacities for vaccines and medical products aim to promote the self-reliance of African countries, in their response to the pandemic and reduce their dependence on non-African products and international supply chains," Laibach said.
German vaccine developer BioNTech said on Tuesday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Rwandan government and the Institut Pasteur de Dakar for the construction of the first messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine production facility in Africa. The plant is scheduled to start production in mid-2022. (1 euro = 1.16 U.S. dollar) Enditem