Editorials

The Irish Times view on EU-Africa relations: vaccine issue remains unresolved

Leaders unable to resolve ongoing row over proposals from South Africa and India at the WTO for a temporary patent waiver

From left, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, president of Senegal and Africa Union chairperson Macky Sall, European Council president Charles Michel, French president Emmanuel Macron, president of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta, Tunisian president Kais Saied, and director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attending the European Union-African Union summit in Brussels last week. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet EPA/pool
From left, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, president of Senegal and Africa Union chairperson Macky Sall, European Council president Charles Michel, French president Emmanuel Macron, president of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta, Tunisian president Kais Saied, and director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attending the European Union-African Union summit in Brussels last week. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet EPA/pool
Sun Feb 20 2022 - 20:00

A joint EU-African Union summit on Thursday and Friday saw more than 40 African leaders in Brussels cementing a "partnership" in discussions that ranged from coronavirus vaccine supplies to illegal migration, a wave of military coups, and the growing presence of Russian mercenaries in Africa. The EU used the occasion to roll out an initiative aimed at generating €150 billion in public and private investment over the next seven years, part of a worldwide investment programme meant to rival China's Belt and Road Initiative.

While the meeting represents an important enhancing of the relationship, leaders were unable to resolve the ongoing row over proposals from South Africa and India at the WTO for a temporary patent waiver to allow the generic production of coronavirus vaccines. These, they say, would ensure "timely access to affordable medical products including vaccines and medicines or to scaling-up of research, development, manufacturing and supply of medical products essential to combat Covid-19".

The waiver is strongly opposed by wealthy nations like the US, the EU and pharma companies who say that it would stifle innovation, specifically research into new strains of coronavirus, by robbing companies of the incentive to make huge investments in research and development.

The World Health Organisation reports that only 11 per cent of Africans are fully vaccinated, compared to the global average of about 50 per cent. But there has been a big recent surge in supplies to the continent and health officials say part of the current problem lies in the inability of African countries to fully use the supplies. Congo and Burundi, for example, have used less than 20 per cent of available doses.

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The EU, the world’s biggest vaccine exporter, has donated 400 million jabs to the global Covax initiative and promised to give Africa 450 million doses by mid-2022. The union says it will increase funding to help health systems on the continent get jabs into arms and pledged €1 billion toward bolstering future vaccine production in Africa.