MTN donates $25m to AU to purchase Covid-19 vaccines

MTN Group has announced a donation of $25 million to support the African Union’s Covid-19 vaccination program.

According to a statement, the donation will help secure the purchase of 7 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccination for health workers across the continent.

“The devastating impact of Covid-19 has been unprecedented and profound. Public and private partnerships are needed if we are to succeed in the fight against the pandemic and restore social and economic norms for our continent and communities,” says Ralph Mupita, president and CEO of MTN Group.

Earlier in January this year, South Africa President and chairperson of the African Union Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the African Union had secured a provisional 270 million Covid-19 vaccine doses on behalf of member states through the advance procurement commitment guarantees of up to $2 billion to the manufacturers by the African Export-Import Bank.

But with a population of an estimated 1.3 billion, the continent no doubt need more doses to achieve at least 60 per cent herd immunity.

“Our goal is to ensure that all those who need the COVID-19 vaccine have access to it very quickly, but the biggest hurdle in Africa has been financing of the vaccines, and the logistics of vaccinating at scale. We, therefore, welcome the right partnerships, like the one with MTN, to achieve our minimum 60 per cent vaccination target, says Dr John Nkengasong, director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).