From fear to leadership: Africa must embrace innovation instead of blocking it

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From fear to leadership: Africa must embrace innovation instead of blocking it

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Patricia Nanteza,  The Observer,  2025.

In Burkina Faso, the Target Malaria project, a global research consortium aiming to use genetically modified mosquitoes to combat malaria, has faced a major setback. On August 18, 2025, judicial police raided the Research Institute in Health Sciences (IRSS), a key partner in the project. This raid, which scientists described as “brutal” and “humiliating”, involved sealing off offices and laboratories and treating researchers like criminals, searching even their vehicles for mosquitoes! This event occurred just one week after the project had celebrated a milestone on August 11, releasing about 16,000 genetically modified male mosquitoes in the village of Souroukoudingan, the first such release in Africa. The raid prompted Burkina Faso to announce the immediate suspension of all project activities. The Target Malaria project aims to combat malaria by using a gene drive to spread desirable genetic modifications in mosquitoes. The goal is to reduce the number of female Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, as they are the ones that transmit malaria to humans. This can be achieved by introducing genes that produce enzymes which disrupt specific genes, such as those controlling fertility or sex determination.

Since the genetic changes are self-sustaining and inheritable by a high percentage of offspring, the intervention offers a potentially cost-effective and sustainable solution for malaria control. For a country that records over 40,000 deaths from malaria each year, this pause was more than just a political decision – it was a health crisis delayed. The suspension, which followed years of preparation and a previous release of sterile mosquitoes in 2019, was a sobering reminder that Africa, while being the continent most affected by malaria, can also be the first to step back from promising innovations.