South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has opened a new manufacturing plant which will be the first in Africa to produce Covid-19 vaccines from start to finish.
The Nant-SA facility in Cape Town was an initiative by the US-based, South African-born biotech billionaire Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong.
It aims to start producing the vaccines within a year and to make a billion doses annually by 2025.
South Africa has two other facilities which produce vaccines from semi-finished batches.
At the opening Mr Ramaphosa said Africa should no longer be the last in line to access vaccines and would in future not have to beg for vaccines.
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Ethiopia’s iconic resistance singer Nuho Gobana dies
Ethiopians are mourning pioneering musician Nuho Gobana, who has died aged 74 after a long career that saw him produce timeless classics, including many songs urging the Oromo people to find their strength and unite to demand change.
The Oromo ethnic group, despite being Ethiopia’s largest, was marginalised by successive Ethiopian rulers until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power a few years ago.
Nuho had been ill for some time – and when his fans realised the seriousness of his situation a few months ago, they bought him a house in Adama, east of the capital, Addis Ababa, where he died on Tuesday night.
During the Marxist military dictatorship of the 1980s, the musician left Ethiopia, living as a refugee in a number of countries including Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, and Canada.
”Back then, Nuho was doing songs to empower his people. His music was easily memorable,” his long-time friend and notable musician Elemo Ali recalls of their life in Saudi Arabia.
Another of his friends, Abdo Alisho, has spoken of how powerful his songs were: “They made you love your country. Nuho lived for his people.”
He went on to influence younger Oromo singers like Hachalu Hundessa, who was killed in 2020 and whose songs had become anthems in a wave of protests that led to the downfall of Mr Abiy’s predecessor.
Nuho didn’t just sing in Afaan Oromoo, writing lyrics in other Ethiopian languages and in Arabic when he was abroad.
Speaking to the BBC from his hospital bed two years ago, the musician had the same message to his fans: ”Keep your unity strong.”
One of his most famous songs was Tokkummaa, which means unity in Afaan Oromoo – and which was also the title of a popular Hachalu hit.
Social embed from youtube
Source: BBC
