CUBA – AFRICA VACCINES & HEALTH GLOBAL EQUITY AND SOLIDARITY INITIATIVE FOR COVID -19 VACCINES AND VALUE CHAINS AND OTHER MEDICAL PRODUCTS PRODUCTION IN CUBA AND SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES FOR SUPPLY ACROSS AFRICA AND OTHER NEEDY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.”

The Cuba- Africa Global Vaccines & Health Equity & Solidarity Initiative is designed and proposed as an innovative private sector, citizenship and patriotic proactive and entrepreneurial response based on the full detailed global analysis of the current continued segregative, colonialistic, exploitative global vaccines distribution driven by vaccines nationalism and regionalism not only on quantities apportionment, but more especially on pricing with some suppliers offering the European Union as low as Euro1.78 per dose , while others also offering about USD3.4 per dose and others also offering as much as USD14.80 per dose and more.

This initiative is therefore proposed to be the Cuba – Africa public private sector multi-stakeholders partnerships of the Cuban Government and the AU lead by the Finlay Vaccine Institute in Havana who have since already developed about five vaccine candidates, with Soberana 2, which appears to be highly effective and is entering the final stage of clinical trials.”This was the first Cuban and Latin American vaccine to advance to phase 3 trials as of early March 2021. The phase 3 clinical trial involved about 44,000 people and was the last test of the vaccine before it was to be sent to Cuba’s national regulatory agency, the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (CECMED) for approval.

Their second Cuban candidate vaccine is called Abdala has also entered a phase 3 study. The names of the vaccine candidates say a lot about what this effort means to Cuba and indeed Africa. “Soberana” is Spanish for sovereign. “Abdala” is the protagonist in a dramatic poem by the hero of the Cuban revolution Jose Marti. “Mambisa,” this is a vaccine administered as a nasal spray, is named after anti-colonialist Cuban guerillas who fought Spain in the late 1800s. We see this in that same revolutionary spirit Cuba isn’t even attempting to buy COVID vaccines from multinational pharmaceutical companies. Nor has it bothered to sign up for the WHO-led COVAX dose sharing initiative, providing free or reduced cost vaccines to low resource countries.

Therefore, the Cuba- Africa Global Vaccines & Health Equity & Solidarity Initiative proposes Cuba to be the lead vaccines technology partner ready to share the technology or IP for possible joint vaccines and related products value chain products production in Cuba and Africa’s would be selected countries e.g: South Africa, Ghana, Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Egypt for onward supply across Africa and other developing countries at best competitive rates of about USD3 to USD10.00 depending on the expected final vaccines production costs with only a 15% to 20% margin or markup respectively and with about 2% to 5% of the net profit excluding all production and distribution costs to be used for R&D in vaccines, medical and health products and  services innovation, development and commercialization in Cuba and across Africa.

1. Implementation strategies

For the successful implementation of the proposed Cuba- Africa Global Vaccines & Health Equity & Solidarity Initiative, a number of implementation strategies have been proposed as follows:

1. ELIF Business Solutions shall lead in the initial project concept development in close liaison with the concerned Cuban Authorities and all concerned African leadership and the “COVID-19 African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT)”.
2. ELIF Business Solutions shall strategically build and facilitate the needed bridge and needed partnership Cuba and Africa Cuba- Africa Global Vaccines & Health Equity & Solidarity Initiative development and implementation
3. ELIF Business Solutions shall also facilitate additional project investment financing mobilization through its Indian financial services partners and others
4. The Cuba- Africa Global Vaccines & Health Equity & Solidarity Initiative implementation special purpose vehicle (SPV) to be established as the Cuba –Africa joint venture with would be financing partners, to also be used as a key public and private sectors partnership bridge and conduit.
5. to use the Cuba- Africa Global Vaccines & Health Equity & Solidarity Initiative as a catalyst for African vaccines, medicines and related products production technology transfer for long term African vaccines , medicines and related products production self-reliance.
6. to use the Cuba- Africa Global Vaccines & Health Equity & Solidarity Initiative as a catalyst for African public private sector, R&D and academia linkages and partnerships in Vaccines, medicines & Health products, and services innovation, development and commercialization.
7. Cuba to lead as the vaccines development and production technology partner and IP provider
8. vaccines and related products under the Cuba- Africa Global Vaccines & Health Equity & Solidarity Initiative to be manufactured in Cuba and selected African regions and countries e.g: South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Ethiopia or Egypt etc.
9. to promote Cuba – Africa medical and health staff and professionals , including students and leaders running exchange programmes between Cuba and the rest of Africa.
10. Cuba to also get at least a quarter of its Cuba- Africa Global Vaccines & Health Equity & Solidarity Initiative net incomes shares in form of various African food supplies and other products needs.