A Cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame on June 9th, 2025, approved Prof. Nicaise Ndembi, Deputy Director General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), as the IVI Regional Director for Africa. Earlier, on February 27, 2025, the international organisation selected Rwanda as the host country for its African regional office. Rwanda was confirmed by the IVI Board of Trustees after a detailed evaluation of proposals from five African countries that had expressed interest in hosting the office, according to a joint statement from IVI and the Ministry of Health. A Cameroonian virologist, Ndembi served as Principal Advisor to the Director General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) prior to joining IVI in 2025. In an exclusive interview with The New Times’ Davis Higiro, he discussed the impact of IVI’s presence in Africa, key vaccine priorities, projected timelines, the future of Africa’s health industry over the next three decades, and the upcoming vaccinology course set to take place in Kigali. Here are the excerpts: How do you view Rwanda, especially in the context of your work? Rwanda has truly become a hub for global health and pharmaceutical innovation. Just in the last few weeks, we saw the appointment of the inaugural CEO of the African Medicines Agency. Then there’s the Africa Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation, which is actually based here in Kigali. Our own office, the International Vaccine Institute, is here as well. The country has attracted big players like Susan Buffett Foundation, Mastercard Foundation, private sector actors, academia, and regulators. Institutions like King Faisal Hospital and the University of Rwanda are actively involved. It’s a well-knit ecosystem. People often refer to Kigali now as a hub of pharmaceutical excellence. For someone unfamiliar with the International Vaccine Institute, what should they know? IVI is a UN-chartered international organisation, established in 1997, with the mission to discover, develop, and deliver vaccines for global health. We’re behind some of the world’s most used vaccines, such as the oral cholera vaccine and typhoid vaccines. More than 100 million doses of our vaccines have been deployed globally, saving countless lives. We take a vaccine from discovery through to licensure and WHO pre-qualification, then work with partners like Gavi and UNICEF to distribute it. What diseases are currently prioritised by IVI? We focus on what we call “syndemics” co-existing health threats. These include: Emerging and re-emerging diseases: Marburg, Ebola, Lassa Fever, Chikungunya, Endemic diseases: HIV, TB, Malaria and Non-communicable diseases: diabetes, mental health, injuries Given limited funding and increasing geopolitical constraints, we have to prioritise. During my time at Africa CDC, we created a framework to guide vaccine manufacturing priorities for the continent. We identified 22 key diseases, grouped into legacy vaccines, outbreak-related, and endemic ones. HPV is high on that list, with plans to vaccinate over 150 million Africans by 2030. We’re also working on Rift Valley Fever vaccines with African Biologics in South Africa. They’re the same company that cracked the Moderna mRNA technology. There’s a long list of other vaccines on our radar. Why did IVI choose Rwanda to host its Africa regional office? First, Africa needed a regional office, given our HQ is in South Korea’s time zone. Kigali made sense for both time zone and strategic reasons. Rwanda’s application stood out among several. The country offers a solid regulatory environment and an impressive ease of doing business. We registered our local office in less than 24 hours. President Kagame has been vocal in championing vaccine self-reliance. There’s political will, strong institutions, and momentum. Rwanda is also home to the AMA, APTF, and BioNTech’s mRNA facility. These complement IVI’s mission well. What does IVI’s presence mean for Africa? The presence of IVI in Africa is nothing short of transformative. Building vaccine manufacturing capacity on the continent rests on several foundational pillars, and IVI is directly contributing to at least four of them. One major area is technology transfer, IVI is currently working with BioVac in South Africa to transfer cholera vaccine production, a move that could ease the global shortage and bolster Africa’s vaccine autonomy. On the talent front, IVI is investing heavily in training the next generation of African vaccine experts, with upcoming vaccinology courses scheduled in Kigali at IRCAD. The institute is also playing a vital role in strengthening regulatory capacity by supporting national agencies in reaching WHO regulatory maturity. In terms of infrastructure, IVI is helping expand clinical trial capabilities in Rwanda, a country positioning itself as a continental hub for vaccine research—especially critical in a context where Africa currently hosts less than 5 percent of global clinical trials. How does IVI collaborate with other major institutions in Rwanda like BioNTech and AMA? IVI collaborates closely with a wide network of institutions operating in Rwanda, including BioNTech, the African Medicines Agency (AMA), the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation (APTF), the East African Community (EAC), and development partners like GIZ and the European Union. Rather than working in silos, these institutions engage in coordinated working groups to avoid duplication and pool their strengths. For instance, in partnership with the EU’s Math+ Project, IVI is helping establish clinical trial sites across Rwanda, an initiative that could place the country firmly on the global map for vaccine testing and development. Does IVI manufacture vaccines? IVI does not manufacture vaccines itself. Its primary role lies in the upstream process, discovering and developing vaccines, conducting research, and guiding them through World Health Organization (WHO) pre-qualification. Once a vaccine reaches that stage, IVI hands it over to manufacturers who take on the large-scale production. From there, the focus shifts to distribution and vaccination campaigns, ensuring that the vaccines reach the people who need them most. Among the vaccines currently in development at IVI, two are expected to be ready soon: a simplified oral cholera vaccine by 2028, and a Rift Valley Fever vaccine. Both are being developed in partnership with African manufacturers, with support from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). In addition, IVI is exploring mRNA technology in collaboration with BioNTech Rwanda, a promising platform that could eventually lead to vaccines for diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, and schistosomiasis. What can you tell Africans about the continent’s capacity to provide adequate vaccines? Africa must aim for self-sufficiency. We’ve learned from COVID. We need capacity for diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines, all of it. There’s political will and strong institutions, but we need coordinated research, policy, and funding to push this forward. President Kagame, as AU Champion for Domestic Resource Mobilization, is leading that charge. With 1.5 billion people, Africa can’t afford to manufacture just 1% of its vaccines. We’re losing $800 billion yearly due to preventable diseases. Imagine what we could save if we had those vaccines made here. What do you do when you’re not working? I love hiking, it clears my mind and sparks inspiration. I also enjoy golf and exploring Rwanda’s rich nature and history. So far, I’ve visited the chimpanzee habitats and the Kigali Genocide Memorial. Our office is still quite new, just six months old, but I’m excited to see it grow and experience even more.
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