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Kenya, Indonesia sign $13.85 million vaccine, pharma deal

Published

1 year ago

August 22, 2023

In a bid to modernize its pharmaceutical sector, Kenya has signed a contract with Indonesia to manufacture and distribute drugs and vaccines.

During bilateral discussions between President William Ruto and President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, agreements were reached that will allow Kenya’s Biovax and Indonesia’s BioFarma to work together to produce pharmaceuticals and other vaccinations for easy access between the two nations.

The two businesses will examine the marketing of the vaccine portfolio that BioFarma will produce in Kenya under the terms of a health memorandum of agreement.

The government has committed up to Ksh2 billion ($13.85 million) to the Biovax project, whose main goal is to produce Covid-19 vaccines and other shots.

The latest development comes as the Kenyan government pushes for local manufacturing of health products to cut excessive importation and create jobs.

“It is time for us to work collaboratively, and bring on board the private sector to ensure that we develop a capacity to produce vaccines and other pharmaceutical products for our countries. We should never find ourselves in the place where we did when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, where we didn’t have facilities to produce our own vaccines,” said President Ruto.

The Kenya Pharmacy and Poisons Board and the Indonesia Food and Drug Authority also signed an MoU to boost regulatory cooperation in pharmaceutical products.

“Kenya is open for business. An important step in this direction must continue to be the easing and gradual removal of visa restrictions between our two nations. For our part, Kenya has decided to extend visa-free entry not only to diplomatic passport holders,” said President Ruto.

With a favourable trade balance with Kenya, Indonesia expects to send $580 million (Ksh83.75 billion) worth of commodities to Nairobi by the year 2021, with palm oil serving as the primary export.

Since the beginning of their relationship in July 1979, Kenya and Indonesia have enjoyed formidable relations with annual bilateral trade that amounts to US$250 million. Indonesian President, Jokowi, after meeting President Ruto, highlighted that relations between the two had been getting closer in the last nine years, especially in Indonesia’s foreign policy, which pays special attention to the African region.

VenturesNow

IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

3 days ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

5 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.