"If we, Europeans and Americans, manage to deliver [13 million doses of vaccines] to Africa very quickly, this will be extremely successful … But if we announce today that we are going to give money, billions of euros in six months, well, in that case, our African friends are going to buy vaccines directly from Russia, from China or from pharmaceutical companies", Macron said in his speech at the Munich Security Conference.
Earlier in the day, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said that Russia might start delivering its coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V to the African Union in May, with the bulk of supplies set to start in June.
According to the World Health Organisation, there are 2,760,712 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Africa as well as 69,489 deaths.