Deutsche Welle (English edition)
Vaccines are latest regional power play in the Middle East
Egypt, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and other countries are producing their own COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccines are also being used to advance international ambitions.
Last week, Egypt announced that it had successfully manufactured its first million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
It's an important step for Egypt's 104 million people, of whom only about 1% are fully vaccinated. But it could also be seen as progress toward the country's foreign policy goals, as vaccine diplomacy gathers pace in the Middle East.
Vaccine diplomacy refers to the use of COVID-19 jabs to advance countries' international interests. The term has probably been used most frequently in reference to attempts by Russia and China to win friends and influence people in parts of the world where the vaccine rollout has been slower.
"[China and Russia] have used high-profile vaccine supply and licensing deals with various
Middle Eastern and North African states to gain ground in the region. It is clear that their vaccine supply to the region has political as well as commercial goals," Yasmina Abouzzohour, a fellow at the Brookings Doha Center, told DW.
As Middle Eastern nations start to manufacture vaccines for themselves, Abouzzohour said, "vaccine diplomacy is also taking on a regional dimension."
Over the past few days, the UAE, where about 82% of the population is vaccinated, Turkey (36%), Algeria (3%) and Saudi Arabia (30%) have donated, or announced plans to donate, a total of about 1.75 million doses of vaccines they already had to Tunisia, which is currently struggling with a devastating surge in infections.
"These donations will promote the diplomatic goals of Abu Dhabi, Ankara, Algiers and Riyadh," Abouzzohour said.
Water wars
Vaccine diplomacy could also be used to advance longer-term foreign policy goals in the Middle East and Africa.
The cooperation between Egypt's state-run vaccine maker, Vacsera, and China's Sinovac, could produce 80 million shots and vaccinate 40% of the population by the end of this year. However, domestic production will also help Egypt become a vaccine hub for the African continent, Vacsera head Heba Wali told media.
More vaccines are needed in Africa. Figures released in July suggest that fewer than 2% of the 1.3 billion people across the continent have had a jab.
It's possible that Egypt could use the promise of vaccines to undersupplied African nations in exchange for support on one of Egypt's most important and difficult foreign policy issues.
Egypt is heavily dependent on fresh water from the Nile river, which runs through nine other African nations. The Arab country has been busy signing agreements on military and economic development with various African nations over recent months and it has all happened against the background of Egyptian fears about Ethiopian plans to dam the Nile. Vaccines could give Egypt yet another chance to push its agenda on the Nile
issue.
Territorial disputes
Egypt is not the only country in the region that might have ulterior motives when it comes to handing out vaccines.
Morocco has also announced plans to begin producing its own vaccine, investing about $500 million (€420 million) into partnerships with Sinopharm and the Swedish business Recipharm. About a third of Morocco's 37 million inhabitants have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. But the new production possibilities would also eventually allow Morocco to supply its neighbors in Africa.
Economists say this could be a way for Morocco to earn more