In conversation with Samer Kassem, the CEO of Aspen Global is leading private sector efforts to advise the government of Mauritius on steps to be taken to create a policy environment that can attract large investors and collaboration with academia to develop a cadre of skilled professionals that can drive pharmaceutical industrialisation in Mauritius. Africa is in desperate need for industrialisation in many sectors but nowhere is the need for manufacturing capacity on the continent is more keenly felt than in the healthcare sector. 

The government of Mauritius announced plans to support add a new pillar to its economy - pharmaceutical manufacturing. The government is working closely with its private sector to create the right environment to support production medical products in Mauritius. In this conversation, Samer Kassem, the CEO of Aspen Global, one of Africa´s largest pharmaceutical companies currently making Covid-19 vaccines for the continent is leading private sector efforts to support the government. The podcast explores the low hanging fruits that Mauritius has for contributing to the wider African Union goals.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the AstraZeneca´s vaccine which European companies were rejecting was donated on large quantities to the African continent through bilateral agreements and through the global mechanism Covax. This was the only vaccine that Covax could access in significant quantities on behalf of African countries which could not to buy vaccines themselves because of stock shortages. African countries could not issue a unified position on the situation with the AtraZeneca vaccine. The Africa Medicines Agency change this by enabling the continent the autonomy to make decisions about such matters.

The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the demand for manufacturing capacity. More vaccines are needs that the world's vaccine manufacturers are capable of making. African companies like Sothema with a reputation for quality manufacturing on the Africa continent have found themselves filling the need for additional manufacturing capacity in a global context where manufacturing capacity is stretched.