South African vaccine manufacturer Biovac has secured a further $20m (R327m) from two French development finance institutions. This brings its total fundraising to $128m (R2.4bn) and leaves the company within striking distance of its $180m (R2.95bn) target. Moreover, this new investment marks a significant milestone in the ongoing Biovac expansion fundraising effort.
Agence Française de Développement and its private-sector arm, Proparco, announced the commitment on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi.
Biovac CEO Morena Makhoana said the company was confident it would secure the remaining $52m (R962m) before the end of May.
Biovac’s Expansion Fundraising Takes Shape
The French commitment follows a substantial $108m package announced three weeks ago from the European Investment Bank Group. Additionally, the package included the International Finance Corporation - the private-sector arm of the World Bank.
Together, these commitments underpin Biovac's plans to build end-to-end vaccine manufacturing capacity at a new site in Cape Town. The site is on land recently acquired from the City of Cape Town.
The $180m target forms part of a broader $253m expansion programme. Of that, the group earmarked $150 million for new infrastructure at the Cape Town site.
Biovac Expansion Fundraising: The Cholera Plant Comes First
The project will first break ground on an oral cholera vaccine plant, with completion expected in 2028. The facility will produce between 30 million and 40 million doses per year, though Biovac can scale capacity to 60 million doses if demand warrants.
A distinctive feature of the facility is its production format. The company will manufacture the vaccines in squeezable plastic tubes—a format health workers can administer more easily in low-resource settings than conventional glass vials. The design reflects a deliberate focus on practical deployment across the African continent.
The project directly targets Africa's heavy reliance on imported vaccines. This is a structural vulnerability that has long concerned health security advocates across the region.
A Broader Pipeline Targeting African Disease Burden
Beyond cholera, Biovac's development pipeline covers several diseases with high prevalence across sub-Saharan Africa. These include pneumonia, meningitis, polio and rotavirus - all conditions where affordable, locally produced vaccines could significantly reduce mortality.
The expansion is expected to create approximately 350 jobs. That more than replaces the 80 positions cut three years ago when Biovac lost a key pneumonia vaccine contract with South Africa's Health Department. This loss happened after the government opted for cheaper imported alternatives from Cipla.
The Company's Roots And Ownership Structure
The South African government established Biovac in 2003 with a mandate to rebuild the country's human vaccine manufacturing capability. The South African government holds a 47.5% stake in the company, with the remainder owned by the Kahma Group.
The expansion is designed to serve not only South Africa but the broader African continent. Local production currently covers only a fraction of total vaccine demand.
Gavi Support Strengthens The Business Case
The fundraising has been supported in part by Gavi's African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, launched in 2023. The initiative offers milestone payments and a per-dose premium to help African manufacturers compete with established global producers. It addresses a longstanding cost disadvantage that has held back local vaccine production.
For development finance institutions, Gavi's involvement reduces risk and strengthens the investment case for facilities such as Biovac's new Cape Town plant.
What This Means For African Health Security
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed Africa's acute vulnerability to vaccine supply disruptions. The continent's dependence on imports, and the delays that followed when wealthy nations prioritised their own populations, made the case for building domestic manufacturing capacity more compelling than any policy paper could.
Biovac's expansion, backed by a diversified mix of multilateral, development finance, and private-sector funding, offers a credible model for building that capacity. The combination of a defined product pipeline, scalable infrastructure, continental market access and Gavi support creates conditions that other potential African vaccine manufacturers will be watching closely.
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