African trade and healthcare leaders called for accelerated investment in local pharmaceutical manufacturing as policymakers and private sector executives gathered under the African Initiative for Medical Access and Manufacturing, or AIM2030, during the Africa Forward Summit.
The discussions, attended by Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA focused on expanding Africa’s pharmaceutical production capacity to reduce reliance on imports and strengthen the continent’s healthcare resilience.
Participants identified three priority areas for the sector: developing Africa’s medical industries, achieving universal health coverage and improving the resilience of healthcare systems across the continent.
A strong consensus emerged around the need for predictable and sustainable demand to attract long-term private investment into pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Industry and policy leaders said investment in the sector continues to be constrained by regulatory uncertainty, high energy and financing costs, tax burdens and concerns over market demand.
Without clear demand visibility, private sector investors are likely to remain cautious about scaling pharmaceutical production facilities across African markets, participants said.
Mene said Africa imported more than $20 billion worth of pharmaceutical products in 2019, arguing that the AfCFTA Secretariat was established in part to address structural weaknesses in the continent’s industrial base.
According to him, the AfCFTA framework could support the growth of competitive pharmaceutical value chains through trade instruments including rules of origin, market integration measures and intellectual property provisions.
Mene also linked the industrialization agenda to broader continental health priorities pursued by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the African Medicines Agency.
The discussions come as African governments seek to reduce exposure to external supply shocks that disrupted access to medicines and vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic.
With a market of over 1.4 billion people, the talks presents significant long-term opportunities for healthcare manufacturing, medical innovation and industrial investment.
Participants added that reducing Africa’s pharmaceutical import dependence could deliver both public health benefits and broader economic gains through job creation, technology transfer and regional trade expansion.
