The Mastercard Foundation has announced a three-year, $1.3 billion partnership with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in support of efforts to save lives and livelihoods and accelerate the continent's recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative will work to acquire vaccines for at least fifty million people, support the delivery of vaccinations to millions more across the continent, lay the groundwork for vaccine manufacturing in Africa through a focus on human capital development, and strengthen the Africa CDC. While the African Union's goal is to vaccinate at least 60 percent of the continent's population — approximately seven hundred and fifty million people — by the end of 2022, to date, less than 2 percent of Africans have received at least one vaccine dose.

The partnership builds on a $40 million commitment from the Mastercard Foundation in June 2020 in support of the Africa CDC's Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT), which has since deployed nearly two million COVID-19 tests and more than twelve thousand trained healthcare workers and rapid responders across Africa.

"Ensuring inclusivity in vaccine access and building Africa's capacity to manufacture its own vaccines is not just good for the continent, it's the only sustainable path out of the pandemic and into a health-secure future," said Africa CDC director John Nkengasong. "This partnership with the Mastercard Foundation is a bold step toward establishing a New Public Health Order for Africa, and we welcome other actors to join this historic journey."

"This initiative is about valuing all lives and accelerating the economic recovery of the continent," said Mastercard Foundation president and CEO Reeta Roy. "In the process, this initiative will catalyze work opportunities in the health sector and beyond as part of our Young Africa Works strategy."

(Photo credit: Emmanuel Zangitia)