Ghana’s President John Mahama wants African investors to help turn the continent’s reliance on imported medicines into a home-grown industry that creates jobs, attracts investment and strengthens healthcare, reports Jon Offei-Ansah
Keypoints:
- Africa imports over 70 percent of medicines
- Mahama seeks African investment in drug factories
- Common regulations could expand regional markets
AFRICA’S dependence on imported medicines is costing the continent billions of dollars that could be supporting local factories, creating skilled jobs and building a stronger pharmaceutical industry, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama has warned.
Speaking at the Alamein Africa Forum in Egypt on October 3, Mahama challenged African investors, manufacturers and regulators to explain what it would take to turn that dependence into a home-grown industry capable of meeting more of the continent’s healthcare needs.
His argument was straightforward: Africa already has a large market for medicines. The challenge is finding the money, expertise and political commitment to produce more of them at home, without making treatment more expensive for patients.
Africa’s costly reliance on imported medicines
According to figures cited by Ghana’s Presidency, Africa imports more than 70 percent of its pharmaceuticals and approximately 99 percent of its vaccines.
That reliance leaves African countries vulnerable when international supply chains are disrupted or currencies lose value.
For patients, the consequences can be immediate. Medicines become more expensive, hospitals face shortages and families already struggling with healthcare bills are left paying more.
The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated how exposed the continent had become. While wealthier countries secured early vaccine supplies, many African governments found themselves waiting for shipments from manufacturers thousands of miles away.
Mahama believes Africa has an opportunity to change that position, provided its governments and investors are prepared to back local production.
In an official account of his address, Ghana’s Presidency said he challenged industry leaders to develop practical financing and regulatory solutions rather than rely on further declarations of intent.
Mahama puts financiers on the spot
One of Mahama’s central questions concerned money.
He challenged financiers to identify the government-backed guarantees, risk-sharing arrangements and blended-finance structures that would persuade them to invest in African pharmaceutical plants.
It is a difficult question because manufacturing medicines requires substantial capital long before the first product reaches a pharmacy.
Companies must invest in sophisticated machinery, laboratories, quality-control systems and trained personnel. They also need reliable electricity and access to specialised materials, much of which may still have to be imported.
And once a factory is built, there must be enough demand to keep it operating profitably.
For investors, that uncertainty can be a powerful deterrent.
Governments could help by committing to predictable procurement arrangements, improving access to affordable financing and making it easier for manufacturers to sell across borders.
Mahama’s call comes as African governments face growing uncertainty over international health assistance.
The Presidency cited OECD projections suggesting that donor health assistance to Africa could decline by between 29 and 46 percent compared with 2024 levels.
That prospect makes the case for stronger domestic capacity more urgent. But replacing imported medicines with locally manufactured alternatives will only work if African producers can compete on quality, reliability and price.
From packaging drugs to making ingredients
Mahama also challenged pharmaceutical companies to look beyond basic packaging and final-stage manufacturing.
He wants more African factories producing active pharmaceutical ingredients, the substances responsible for the medical effects of drugs.
The distinction matters.
A company may manufacture tablets locally but still depend entirely on overseas suppliers for the ingredients that go into them. When those supplies are disrupted, local production can quickly run into trouble.
Manufacturing ingredients within Africa would strengthen supply chains and create opportunities for scientific research, technology transfer and specialised employment.
But the required investment is considerable, and not every country will be able to manufacture every ingredient economically.
The more realistic opportunity may lie in countries developing specialised production capabilities that serve neighbouring markets.
There is already a foundation for that approach.
South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Rwanda and Senegal have been developing different parts of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.
As Africa Briefing examined in its analysis of Africa’s pharmaceutical manufacturing potential, the issue is no longer simply whether African countries can produce medicines. It is whether existing capabilities can be expanded into commercially sustainable industries.
Ghana has also pursued vaccine manufacturing cooperation with South Africa, highlighting the growing interest in sharing technical expertise rather than building every capability independently.
Can Africa create one market for medicines?
Even with investment, manufacturers face another serious obstacle: Africa’s fragmented regulatory systems.
A medicine approved for sale in one country may require a separate registration process before it can enter another market.
For businesses hoping to expand across the continent, those additional procedures mean delays, costs and uncertainty.
Mahama wants the African Medicines Agency (AMA) to help address that problem.
The agency became operational in October 2025, with headquarters in Kigali, and is working with national regulators to improve oversight and harmonise standards.
In August 2026, the agency welcomed a regional regulatory strategy covering 2026 to 2035.
The strategy seeks to strengthen cooperation between national authorities and make it easier for patients to access safe, effective medicines.
For manufacturers, greater regulatory consistency could reduce the expense of entering new markets.
The African Continental Free Trade Area could also help companies reach customers beyond their home countries, making larger factories and longer production runs more attractive.
But a continent-wide approval system remains some distance away. National authorities retain important responsibilities, and regulatory cooperation will require sustained investment and political commitment.
A digital gateway for pharmaceutical investment
Mahama also announced the introduction of HINGE, a proposed digital platform intended to simplify pharmaceutical regulation, clinical validation and commercialisation across African markets.
The Health Investment and National Gateway Enabler initiative was developed through collaboration involving the AMA, Institut Pasteur and AfroChampions.
The aim is to make the route from product development to market entry less complicated for investors and manufacturers.
It is a potentially useful initiative, particularly for smaller companies that lack the resources to navigate multiple regulatory systems.
Its success, however, will depend on whether governments and regulators adopt the platform and whether it delivers meaningful reductions in bureaucracy.
The real test will be affordable medicines
Mahama’s proposals fit into his broader campaign for greater African economic self-reliance.
Through his Accra Reset agenda, he has argued that African countries need stronger domestic industries and financing systems rather than continued dependence on external assistance.
As Africa Briefing reported in its coverage of his Global South development agenda, the president has placed productive investment and institutional reform at the centre of that ambition.
Yet building a pharmaceutical industry involves difficult choices.
Governments must encourage local manufacturing without making essential medicines prohibitively expensive. Investors need confidence that policies will remain stable, while manufacturers must meet strict international standards.
There is also the question of scale. A factory may be commercially viable when supplying several countries but struggle if restricted to a small domestic market.
These are the practical problems that will determine whether Mahama’s vision succeeds.
For patients, the most important measure is not where a medicine is manufactured, but whether it is safe, effective, available and affordable.
For African economies, the opportunity is to meet more of that demand through local production, keeping a greater share of pharmaceutical spending within the continent.
Mahama has challenged investors and regulators to help make that happen.
What matters now is whether those discussions lead to functioning factories, competitive businesses and medicines that reach the people who need them.