President William Ruto has announced the construction of a $500 million (approx. Sh.66 billion) Moderna vaccine facility in Nairobi.
Speaking during the American chamber of commerce regional business summit on Thursday, Dr Ruto said the facility will be the first of its kind in Africa.
“I want to highlight the medical and pharmaceutical sector where I have a major announcement to make. It is with pleasure that I announce a finalised deal between Moderna and the Government of Kenya to build a $500 million mRNA vaccine facility in Nairobi area,” he said.
“This will be the only such facility on the African continent and, for Moderna, their first factory outside the United States. Moderna’s investment will be a catalyst for the medical and pharmaceutical industry in Africa. This is historic. This is big. This is my administration’s vision for the future of Kenya.”
This comes after Former President Uhuru Kenyatta last year witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Kenya and Moderna to establish the factory.
At the time, Kenyatta said the state-of-the-art mRNA facility would produce up to 500 million doses of vaccines each year.
