Keynote Speaker 2: Dr Solomzi Makohliso - Exploring Advanced Local Manufacturing Prospects in Africa
The recent Covid-19 has exposed how fragile the international supply chains can potentially become and has highlighted the importance of local manufacturing for certain key supplies, especially medical supplies. Already prior to that, the World Health Organisation has been highly vocal on the need to establish local manufacture of appropriate, affordable, quality medicines and medical devices in low-resource settings. Lack of local advanced manufacturing opportunities is also a major hindrance towards the full realisation of many technological innovations emanating from these regions. In this talk, we will explore the challenges these regions face towards realising local production of essential medical products, such as vaccines, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa. We will also discuss some promising initiatives and prospects towards the realisation of this goal.
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Dr Solomzi Makohliso
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Dr. Soli Makohliso is an international entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the US, Switzerland and southern Africa, some of which involved the development of biosensors for in vtiro diagnostics. His current professional interests are in innovation and entrepreneurship for sustainable impact, with a particular interest in health. He currently serves the Deputy Head of the EssentialTech Centre at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), where he is actively involved in harnessing cutting-edge research to develop technology innovations that can leapfrog the development and drive sustainable impact, support humanitarian action and foster peace in low- and middle-income countries. He recently served as a member of the Ministerial Task Team in Technology Innovation aspects for the South African government. Previously, he has held various advisory positions in the past in biotechnology innovation, and for the implementation of the South African Nanotechnology Strategy. He also served as the advisor to the Swiss government for the bilateral strategy with South Africa in science, technology & innovation. Soli received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering at Brown University in the US and his Ph.D. at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).
