Former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has urged African leaders, financiers, and industrialists to view health as a high-yield economic sector rather than a charitable cause. Speaking at the Health Plenary of the Alamein Africa Forum, Mahama emphasized that health drives human capital, manufacturing, job creation, and macroeconomic stability for the continent's 1.4 billion people. He made the remarks on October 3, 2026, in a keynote address titled "Investing in Health: Manufacturing and Regional Value Chain."
Mahama criticized the traditional approach of treating health as a line-item cost, funded only when there is leftover budget. He cited the Copenhagen Consensus, which shows that a targeted package of basic emergency maternal and newborn care yields $87 in economic and social returns for every dollar invested. The Lancet Commission also found that falling mortality rates accounted for nearly a quarter of total income growth in developing economies in the early 2000s. These statistics, Mahama argued, demonstrate the economic viability of investing in health.
The former Ghanaian President highlighted Africa's heavy reliance on imported pharmaceuticals and vaccines, which costs tens of billions in foreign exchange annually. He noted that OECD projections indicate a decline in health aid by 29 to 46 percent compared to 2024. To address this, Mahama proposed four pillars for local manufacturing: capturing the growing market, import substitution, leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) market size, and pooled procurement. These strategies, he believes, can help reduce dependence on imports and promote economic growth.
Mahama emphasized that local production of pharmaceuticals and vaccines can ensure health security, create jobs, and increase affordability. He pointed to Egypt's elimination of Hepatitis C as an example of successful local production, achieved through negotiated technology transfers and domestic production. Nigeria's African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja was also cited as a model for stemming medical tourism and promoting local healthcare. These examples demonstrate the potential for African countries to develop their own healthcare industries.
In Ghana, the government is implementing the Accra Reset, which includes expanding the National Health Insurance Scheme, introducing Free Primary Health Care, and establishing the Ghana Medical Trust Fund. Mahama also unveiled the Health Investment and National Gateway Enabler (HINGE), a digital platform developed with the African Medicines Agency, Institut Pasteur, and AfroChampions. HINGE aims to streamline regulation, clinical validation, and commercialization for innovators and investors, reducing regulatory friction and promoting investment in the health sector.
Mahama called on the private sector to participate in the transition to a more robust healthcare industry, emphasizing that governments cannot fund this transition alone. He urged corporate Africa to integrate health into capital allocation and asked financiers, regulators, and industrialists to collaborate on developing the sector. Mahama posed three questions to stakeholders, seeking specific de-risking instruments, regulatory frameworks, and strategic partnerships to drive investment in African pharmaceutical plants.
The former President concluded by emphasizing the need to treat health as an investable sector, not a charitable cause. He encouraged stakeholders to work together to build factories, integrate supply chains, fund innovators, and secure the future of African citizens. By doing so, Mahama believes that Africa can harness the economic potential of its health sector and drive sustainable growth and development.
Key points
- - Health is a high-growth investable sector, not charity, that drives human capital, manufacturing, job creation, and macroeconomic stability. - African leaders, financiers, and industrialists must collaborate to develop the health sector and promote local manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and vaccines. - The Health Investment and National Gateway Enabler (HINGE) platform aims to streamline regulation, clinical validation, and commercialization for innovators and investors in the health sector.
