The Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, Gelsomina Vigliotti
The presence of BioNtech and the establishment of mRNApharmaceuticals in Rwanda will be a great initiative” which can be replicated in many other countries, according to the Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, Gelsomina Vigliotti (G.V).
Read below her interview with Rwanda News Agency (RNA)
RNA – What is the role of European Investment in Africa and Rwanda in particular?
G.V – The European Investment Bank is the bank operating in the 27 countries of the European Union. Our main aim is to financially implement the objective of the European Union. We have the European Union’s financial arm and the investment worldwide. We invest inside Europe and outside the European Union.
We are present in over 160 countries worldwide. And since 2022, we have dedicated branches that want to invest outside the European Union because we want to invest depending on the specific features of different continents and accordingly to the development of states.
Africa is relevant for the European Investment Bank and Europe for the European Union since the continent is closer to Europe. Yet we see other many opportunities to invest in the continent to establish good partnerships with African countries.
We want to be good partners to work together and look for good investment opportunities for the countries.
The project we invest in can be sustainable, sustainable from the economic, social and environmental point of view. We are particularly attentive to the issue of climate change. We want ourselves to give to the Climate Bank. Africa is not a continent contributing much to the climate change.
We cannot ask Africa to take the burden the fight against climate change. But we believe in Africa there is a good opportunity to leapfrog some of the steps.
In the past days, we used fossil fuels to support the industrialization. We believe that generating renewable energy and bioenergy in Africa is a possibility.
Through this, we believe Africa can be good partners to build industrialization which is based on renewable energy and contribute to the climate change fight.
We believe that Africa should cooperate in the fight against climate change because Africa suffers because of climate change. Therefore, we have this wide extreme events and jobs. And we have to work together on adaptation measures and projects so help the population cope with the side effects of climate change. At the same time, to creates also opportunities to preserve the environment and ecosystem.
We see a lot of opportunities to work here in Africa and also to support jobs and growth supporting education and women empowerment.
It’s very important in our project to pay close attention to diversity and create room for women opportunities such as access to education, access to work and access to finance.
RNA – What is the contribution of the European Investment Bank in correspondence with the BioNTech project here in Rwanda?
G.V. – The collaboration with BioNTech is a long-standing collaboration. BioNTech has contributed a lot of research on the mRNA-technology and we are very proud that data technology was able to generate the vaccine against COVID-19.
And we are very keen and proud to see that we contribute to BioNTechnology and be allowed to be spread around the world.
What we see in Rwanda is the capability to replicate a modern firm that can be set up more quickly. We see that there are models of a factory which will be assembled and the first example is here in Rwanda.
It’s an example of what can be done in many other countries so that in all countries there will be opportunities in each country. And we don’t believe it will not only be about COVID-19 but other diseases such as TB and Malaria which is important to continue work and find the vaccines and medicines which can cure other types of diseases. We strongly believe that the presence of BioNtech and the establishment of mRNApharmaceuticals in Rwanda will be a great initiative which can be replicated in many other countries.
RNA – What are other interventions of the European Investment Bank here in Rwanda?
G.V. – Last year, the European Investment Bank invested in Africa roughly 5 billion Euros. We don’t have the specific figures for investment in Rwanda but we invest in electricity hydro power and waste water management. So we develop together these developments together with the government. We are strong financier of the hard infrastructure such as the electric grid and health. We also finance bio-medical projects which are also projects aimed to amplify the supply and production of medicine.
And we look forward to further collaborating with the government and private sector. We see a lot of opportunities here in Rwanda.
Rwanda is one of the countries in Africa, which has the best business environment. Looking at the statistics Rwanda, is a good ranking in terms of the business opening and I think this is very good to attract investment. Our role is to provide financing to the specific project, but to catalyze and attract investment for the private sector and accumulate private capital because public investment cannot guarantee all the necessary funding required not here in Rwanda but all over the world. (End)