Nadia Calviño, president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, spoke at Gavi's Global Summit on 25 June.
Thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, what an honour. What a pleasure to follow my dear friends, Dr. Tedros, Catherine Russell. The WHO and of course UNICEF are two of our most important partners around the world. Partnerships, this has been a key word expressed in many, many forms here this evening, and it is so because for Gavi, partnerships is not just a slogan. It's a way of working, a way of bringing together the forces for good with a cause that is really worth it.
Now, as representative of the European Investment Bank, I know very well that time is money, so let me go down to three ways where we are reinforcing, deepening our partnership, a very successful partnership with the Gavi Alliance for the last years.
First of all, building on our partnership under COVAX, which actually enabled the delivery of close to 2 billion vaccine doses to over 100 countries. The European Investment Bank is extending its €1 billion liquidity facility for Gavi. That means vaccine procurement. That means pre-financing future pledges and contributions to Gavi. That will allow us to accelerate... That will allow Gavi to accelerate routine immunisation, outbreak responses. So, in a nutshell, this means turning the pledges that we have heard tonight into real money. This means making projects possible on the ground.
Now, secondly, the European Investment Bank stands ready to work with all sovereign donors that have also spoken here tonight, and those that will follow, to support their contributions to Gavi's replenishment. In an area where multilateralism is being criticised, I think it's more important than ever that we build bridges and that we show that acting together, we can really make a difference.
And thirdly, we want to also contribute to boosting vaccine production on the ground, local vaccine production. This is critical. Many have already said how Africa accounts for 20% of the world's population but produces just 0.1% of its vaccines. This must change, and the European Investment Bank is proud to partner with Gavi's African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator so that we can support African manufacturers to become future Gavi suppliers. In South Africa, for example, our support for Biovac is expected to increase annual production in Cape Town to 500 million doses, enabling the manufacturing of both viral and bacterial vaccines, and strengthening Africa's resilience to future pandemics. And this is not just investment in infrastructures. As many have said it this evening, this is investment into hope.
So, let me close with these thoughts, because countries everywhere need the resources to identify new disease outbreaks to respond quickly. And the European Investment Bank, as a proud member of Team Europe, will work shoulder to shoulder with Gavi and our global partners, many of whom are represented here today, because just by joining our forces can we succeed in facing the challenges ahead. And I'm really proud to be at the helm of the European Investment Bank, an institution that is fighting for global health, because, dear friends, in today's geopolitical context, let me tell you, this is the good fight. Thank you very much.