Africa is investing significantly in pharmaceutical manufacturing to decrease its dependence on imported medicines. According to the Access to Medicine Foundation, 70-80% of medicines consumed in Africa are currently imported. The continent also relies heavily on overseas suppliers for active pharmaceutical ingredients and vaccines. This dependence was starkly exposed during the Covid-19 pandemic when African countries struggled to secure essential medical supplies.
The pandemic prompted governments and manufacturers to seek a more resilient supply chain. However, the risk exists that investment in factories could outpace demand. Dr. Mariatou Tala Jallow, Director of the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism at Africa CDC, noted that some manufacturers expanded capacity during the pandemic only to face weaker orders once the emergency passed. This creates a difficult equation for pharmaceutical companies, as plants need high volumes and predictable orders to compete on price.
An Access to Medicine Foundation report examined eight generic drugmakers operating in or supplying African markets. It found that manufacturers are expanding supply chains, developing local skills, and broadening their portfolios to address diseases prevalent across the continent. In Uganda, Quality Chemicals Industries Limited, the country's largest pharmaceutical manufacturer, is expanding its production capacity to supply a wider range of medicines locally. The company recently completed a new manufacturing facility for hydroxyurea and launched Sikurea, a locally produced treatment for sickle-cell disease.
African manufacturers are diversifying beyond traditional infectious-disease products in response to the continent's shifting disease burden. Companies are expanding into insulin, medicines for hypertension, and other chronic conditions, as well as maternal healthcare. The Access to Medicine Foundation's CEO, Jayasree Geyser K Iyer, emphasized the need for more predictable purchasing from governments and donors to sustain production. Ensuring predictable demand for critical medicines would give manufacturers a better chance of sustaining production.
The continent's fragmented markets pose a significant challenge. A manufacturer seeking to sell the same medicine across several African countries faces different registration procedures, procurement systems, and regulatory requirements. Claudia Martínez, the foundation's director of research, noted that country-by-country approval processes can slow access. Greater regulatory cooperation could reduce duplication and allow manufacturers to reach larger markets without repeating costly processes.
Africa's 55 national markets are a disadvantage compared to pharmaceutical markets like India and China, where large populations support high production volumes. The African Continental Free Trade Area could help change this equation, but regulatory barriers remain. African governments could specialize in selected products and pool procurement across regions, giving manufacturers greater visibility over future orders and allowing them to produce at larger scale.
Self-sufficiency is not the ultimate goal; instead, the objective is to reduce exposure to external factors and create a stable market for manufacturers. Policymakers recognize that complete pharmaceutical self-sufficiency may neither be practical nor economical. The industry's biggest problem is utilization, as a factory producing at a fraction of its capacity will struggle to match the costs of competitors operating at much higher volumes.
Key points
- African manufacturers face challenges in securing steady demand for their products.
- The continent's fragmented markets pose significant challenges to pharmaceutical production and distribution.
- Greater regulatory cooperation and pooled procurement could help African manufacturers sustain production and reduce costs.
