27 Aug 2025

The Botswana Vaccine Institute (BVI) is poised to open Africa’s first rapid vaccine formulation facility, a major development for regional animal healthcare and economic diversification.

Speaking at a media engagement session in Gaborone on Tuesday, BVI chief executive officer, Mr Andrew Madeswi said the institution was nearing completion of a state-of-the-art antigen formulation facility, which aimed to position Botswana as a leader in vaccine manufacturing across the continent.

“The antigen is essentially the vaccine formulation,” he explained, adding tha ‘with about 90 per cent of the process completed, only five to 10 per cent remains, which can be formulated into a vaccine within a week or two.”

Such advancement, he said would enable Botswana to respond swiftly to emerging health threats, with vaccines ready within three weeks. 

“Our goal is to be the first in Africa to have such a facility and to develop the largest antigen bank on the continent,” Mr Madeswi said.

He expressed confidence that the facility would be operational before the end of this financial year, aligning with the institution’s broader objectives of rapid response, innovation and regional influence.

Beyond infrastructure, he said BVI was shifting its strategic focus towards diversification. Historically, heavily reliance on the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine, which accounted for around 90 per cent of the institution’s revenue, Mr Madeswi said the organisation recognised the risks associated with such dependence.

He further said with the Four for Forty strategy, BVI aimed to reduce reliance so that only 60 per cent of the institution’s revenue would be derived from FMD vaccines, by expanding product portfolio to include other vaccines, thus building resilience and ensuring long-term sustainability.

He outlined ongoing efforts to develop new vaccines and expand regional distribution channels.

He said the institution was actively working to increase market penetration for existing products such as PPR, CBPP and Anthrax, which he said currently contributed minimally to revenue but had considerable growth potential.

Financially, he said BVI had posted impressive progress since implementing its strategic plan in 2021.

He said revenue, which was below P100m in 2019 and 2020, surged to a record P246m in the last fiscal year. From 2021 onwards, he said the institution transitioned from losses exceeding P20m to consistent profitability, recording profits of P46m in 2021 and P45m in 2022.

The BVI boss said the positive trend underscores the effectiveness of focus on sustainable growth and operational efficiency, also pointing to improvements in operational efficiency, staff engagement and brand visibility.

Regionally, he added, BVI had played a key role in controlling trans boundary diseases such as FMD, supplying South Africa with 900 000 vaccine doses during a recent emergency order.

He highlighted that the institution’s exports extended to SADC countries and beyond, stressing on its strategic importance in regional disease control and food security.

He reaffirmed the aim of transforming BVI into a ‘global centre of excellence’ in research and development, with a focus on delivering high-quality solutions for infectious diseases.

Addressing infrastructure needs, Mr Madeswi acknowledged the urgent need for equipment upgrades, estimating around P500m for plant refurbishment.

Such investments, he said were vital for increasing capacity, ensuring compliance with international standards as well as improving operational efficiency which were essential steps for BVI to meet regional and global demands. ENDS