Former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has urged African leaders to prioritize health sovereignty as part of a broader strategy for the continent to achieve economic and fiscal security. Speaking at the Alamein Africa Forum in Egypt on October 3, 2026, Mahama emphasized that Africa must stop treating health as a charitable cost and position it as an investable, high-growth economic sector. He stated that the goal is health sovereignty and economic and fiscal security for Africa's 1.4 billion people.
Mahama highlighted the need to invest in health, citing global evidence that it drives human capital, manufacturing, job creation, and macroeconomic stability. He referenced the Copenhagen Consensus, which showed that a targeted package of basic emergency maternal and newborn care can yield $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.
Mahama pointed out Africa's dependence on imported pharmaceuticals and vaccines, with over 70% of pharmaceuticals and nearly 99% of vaccines being imported. This results in tens of billions of dollars leaving African economies annually to purchase medicines abroad. He noted that traditional donor assistance is declining, with OECD projections indicating a 29-46% decrease in health aid compared to 2024 levels.
Mahama called for private capital, industrial developers, commercial banks, and sovereign funds to participate in funding the transition to health sovereignty. He cited initiatives like Business United for Mothers, Babies, and Youth, championed by President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania. Mahama urged African leaders and stakeholders to stop treating health as an expense item in their budgets and instead build factories, integrate supply chains, fund innovators, and secure the future of their citizens.
Mahama emphasized the importance of developing a vibrant local pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, citing four key pillars: a captive market of 2.5 billion people by 2050, saving foreign exchange through import substitution, and the single continental market offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). He noted that the AfCFTA serves a unified market of 1.4 billion consumers, not individual countries.
Mahama cited successful continental initiatives, such as Egypt's elimination of hepatitis C, which reduced prevalence from 10% to under 0.5% through technology transfer and domestic production. He also mentioned Nigeria's African Medical Centre of Excellence in Abuja, which aims to tackle the $6 billion annual loss to outbound medical tourism. In Ghana, the government is implementing the Accra Reset, expanding the National Health Insurance Scheme and introducing a free primary healthcare program.
To scale up such successes, Mahama announced the launch of the Health Investment and National Gateway, or HINGE, Enabler. Developed with the African Medicines Agency, Institut Pasteur, and Afrochampions, HINGE will become a digital platform that streamlines regulations, clinical validation, and commercialization into a unified process for innovators and investors. The platform aims to track capital flows, enforce policy commitments, and dismantle non-tariff barriers across regional value chains.
Key points
- Mahama urges African leaders to treat healthcare as an investment, not a charitable cost.
- Africa imports over 70% of its pharmaceuticals and nearly 99% of its vaccines.
- Mahama launches HINGE, a digital platform to streamline health investment and national gateway.
