Huambo, Angola, July 4, 2025 (Lusa) - Angola will begin producing animal vaccines next year, with the possibility of exporting them to other African and international markets, officials announced on Thursday during a visit to the Centre for Bioveterinary Medicine and Vaccine Production.
The facility, currently under construction in the province of Huambo, has an investment of €125 million, and the Portuguese-Angolan-German consortium Noráfrica-Gauff is undertaking its construction. Miguel Costa, the project engineer, expects it to start operating in the first half of 2026.
Officials presented the centre, which is 71% complete, to a delegation of ambassadors from the European Union and member states accredited in Angola today, at the end of a three-day visit to the provinces of Huambo and Bié, two of the five provinces crossed by the Lobito Corridor.
The European mission aimed to observe the impact of EU-supported projects on the ground.
The future factory will have the capacity to produce more than 30 million vaccines for mammals per year, over 150 million vaccines for birds, and more than 9 million antigen reagents for laboratory diagnosis.
“We are in the final stages of construction and installation of equipment. By the end of this year and the beginning of next year, we will complete this part. We will then begin the equipment validation phase.
It will have GMP certification and we can export it anywhere in the world,” explained Miguel Costa.
The project will serve not only the Angolan market but also neighbouring countries.
“It will be important for animal health and the region, and also to support surrounding countries. Animals have the same types of diseases, and this vaccine factory will meet that need,” he said.
The European Union ambassador to Angola, Rosário Bento Pais, emphasised the strategic importance of the project.
“This is the first vaccine factory in Angola and the second in Africa to produce vaccines for animals,” she said, pointing to the potential in terms of exports and employment.
The diplomat also highlighted European support for specialised training in animal health.
“We are supporting training in veterinary medicine and biotechnology at the José Eduardo dos Santos University with our Uni.Ao project. It is also a type of investment and infrastructure that is part of our Global Gateway project in terms of health infrastructure,” she said.
Rosário Bento Pais also acknowledged that, in the future, the European Union could support the national production of human vaccines, if this is in the interest of the Angolan government.
“Global Gateway is already in five countries in Africa with laboratories and drug production. We are already in preliminary discussions to explore the possibility of Angola joining. Here we already have a good example in terms of animal health, but we are also in contact to analyse the production of human vaccines,” she said.
“There is potential, without a doubt,” she stressed.
Taking stock of the three-day visit by European ambassadors to EU-funded projects in the Lobito Corridor, Rosário Bento Pais expressed her satisfaction with the momentum of investment, stressing that “it is about economic development, social development and environmental development.”
The production centre comprises five buildings, covering 5,000 square metres of production areas, laboratories, storage facilities, quality control, research and development, as well as accommodation for workers and researchers.
*** The Lusa news agency travelled at the invitation of the European Union delegation in Angola*** RCR/ADB // ADB.
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