President John Dramani Mahama has urged African governments and investors to treat healthcare manufacturing as an industrial investment opportunity, arguing that the continent’s dependence on imported medicines is both a vulnerability and a market opportunity.
Speaking at the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum in Egypt on Saturday, October 3, Mahama said Africa’s pharmaceutical industry could become a major driver of manufacturing, employment and economic resilience if governments create the conditions for private capital to enter the sector.
“Health is not a charitable cause. It is an investable, high-growth economic sector,” he said.
Africa currently imports more than 70% of its pharmaceuticals and nearly 99% of its vaccines, according to figures cited by the President. That dependence means billions of dollars in foreign exchange leave African economies each year to finance essential health products.
Mahama said building production capacity locally could reverse part of that outflow while protecting countries from global supply disruptions.
“Local capacity preserves foreign exchange reserves, stabilizes currencies, and shields economies from global supply disruptions,” he said.
The investment opportunity is also being strengthened by Africa’s expanding consumer market. Mahama pointed to the continent’s projected population of 2.5 billion by 2050 and rising demand for medicines, chronic disease treatment and biologics as a basis for scaling production.
But he argued that investors need a market larger than individual African economies. The African Continental Free Trade Area, combined with pooled procurement, could give manufacturers access to demand across the continent and improve the economics of pharmaceutical production.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) recently conducted a pooled procurement exercise for maternal and child health products, which he said reduced prices by more than 30% while African manufacturers secured 50% of the product lines.
He proposed the Health Investment National Gateway Enabler (HINGE), a digital platform intended to simplify regulatory, clinical validation and commercialisation processes for health innovators and investors.
The President challenged financial institutions and manufacturers to move beyond basic pharmaceutical packaging and develop deeper capabilities, including active pharmaceutical ingredient production.
“Let us build the factories, integrate supply chains, fund innovators, and secure our citizens’ future,” Mahama said.
The Alamein Africa Forum, which runs from October 2 to 4, brings together African governments, investors, financial institutions and businesses to identify investment opportunities and strengthen regional economic integration.
