Zambia and Chinese Partner Launch Joint Venture for Vaccine Manufacturing Plant
Zambia is moving to curb its reliance on foreign drug imports by establishing a domestic vaccine manufacturing facility through a joint venture valued at approximately $213 million. The initiative follows severe public health strains from recent disease outbreaks that exposed supply vulnerabilities across southern Africa. The new enterprise, named ZAMVAX, brings together the state-run Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) holding a 60% stake and its Chinese partner Jijia International Medical Technology holding the remaining 40%. The project builds upon an initial memorandum of understanding signed on October 7, 2024, when the estimated investment stood at a lower figure before partners revised the overall scope and capital requirements upward.
Construction will unfold in phases within the Lusaka South Economic Zone. The first phase, budgeted at approximately $24 million, focuses on establishing a filling, finishing, packaging, and quality control unit for oral cholera vaccines. Initially, the facility will rely on imported bulk antigens before transitioning to full local production.
Zambia Plans to Process Twenty Million Vaccine Doses Annually
Once operational, the initial unit aims to process up to 20 million vaccine doses annually. Project planners intend to split output evenly, allocating half to domestic needs in Zambia and reserving the remaining half for export to other African nations, pending regulatory approvals and market access.
The facility’s broader roadmap includes expanding production into pediatric and veterinary vaccines. However, those future phases remain strictly conditioned on securing additional financing and obtaining necessary regulatory greenlights. Preparatory site work is slated to take twelve months, though project leaders have not yet announced an official date for commercial manufacturing to begin.
Cholera Epidemics Drive Urgent Health Infrastructure Investments
The push for domestic manufacturing comes in the wake of a devastating cholera wave between 2023 and 2024, which killed nearly 700 people and sickened more than 20,000 individuals in Zambia.
Regional contagion has further complicated public health efforts. Between January and February 2026, five southern African countries recorded thousands of cholera cases, driven by flooding, population displacements, and compromised access to safe drinking water. To bridge the gap before domestic production starts, the Chinese government plans to donate approximately 3 million oral cholera vaccine doses to Zambia.
Continental Strategy for Local Vaccine Autonomy
Zambia’s industrial venture directly supports a wider African Union objective to manufacture 60% of the continent’s required vaccines locally by 2040. Severe supply bottlenecks experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic catalyzed this continent-wide push to reduce heavy reliance on foreign pharmaceutical imports.
While the joint venture provides a framework for regional supply security, partners have not publicly detailed the specific reasons behind the timeline gap between the initial 2024 agreement and the finalization of the corporate partnership in late 2026.
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