US Gov’t to Help Build a Moderna Vaccine Manufacturing Hub in Nairobi

The United States government has pledged to facilitate the setting up of a Moderna vaccines manufacturing hub in Nairobi.

US Ambassador to Kenya Margaret Whitman made the commitment on Thursday following talks with Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in Nairobi, where the two discussed a variety of subjects concerning bilateral cooperation between Kenya and the US.

“Kenya and the United States have for many decades shared strong bilateral and multilateral relations. Our cooperation and relations can only grow stronger and deeper for the benefit of our future generations,” Gachagua said.

In March, Moderna Inc. announced it would set up a manufacturing facility in Kenya, its first in Africa, to produce messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, including COVID-19 shots.

Moderna said it expects to invest about $500 million in the Kenyan facility and supply as many as 500 million doses of mRNA vaccines to the continent each year. It also has plans to start filling doses of its COVID vaccine in Africa as early as 2023.

Gachagua and Whitman also discussed the conclusion of the process to allow Millenium Challenge Corporation to release $60 million grant towards the improvement of the transport system in Nairobi

“We further discussed the partnership between the US’s Silicon Valley companies to invest in start-ups at the Silicon Savanna/ Konza City, the issuance of Visas to Kenya Seafarers in transit to take up jobs in the Caribbean and the initiation of a framework to export skilled health workers to the United States,” Gachagua added.