Africa healthcare: Calls grow for self-reliance as foreign aid dries up

This fact was been brought up at the Group of 20 (G20) Health Working Group last week in South Africa. Stakeholders at the G20 were informed; “Global attention is turning to a truth many countries in Africa have long recognized: Health security cannot depend on distant suppliers and uncertain aid,” Pate pointed out to the delegates.

With Africa bearing more than a quarter of the global disease burden, this including major infectious diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, it only makes sense that pharmaceutical supplies should be produced on the continent, not imported.

“Yet Africa imports more than 95 per cent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients and 70 per cent of the medicines it consumes,” the Nigerian minister lamented.

He decried the fact that the status quo leaves African countries vulnerable to supply-chain disruptions, price shocks, and unpredictable donor shifts and so Africa healthcare must self reliant.

“Patients who rely on steady access to quality-assured tests and treatments are already seeing devastating consequences,” he informed the meeting.

How big is the problem? The scale of the challenge, according to the minister, can best be understood in figures, i.e. Africa is home to 1.5 billion people but has just 600 health-product manufacturing sites. Compare that to India where, even though their number is in excess of  1.4 billion but the country has approximately 10,000 sites.

The same is the case for China which has more than 5,000 sites yet it spots a similar population count to that of India.

“This vast disparity leaves African nations more exposed to global supply-chain shocks and limits their ability to respond to local health needs with the speed and affordability…they lack the self-reliance that is needed to ensure essential products are available when and where they’re needed,” he asserted.

Africa healthcare autonomy is what Africa needs; that is, the ability to act independently and make timely decisions in addressing their health needs free from external suppliers, donors, or complex global supply chains.

“The goal is to have enough self-reliance in manufacturing capacity, procurement systems, and regulatory oversight to ensure essential health products are available as needed,” the minister reasserted.

In the face of this new reality, the need to wean off health aid dependency and make Africa healthcare independent, Nigeria is demonstrating how political will, smart investment, and regulatory reform can begin to reshape the health manufacturing landscape in Africa, he announced.

Read also: Policymakers bet big on Islamic finance to reshape Africa’s MSME economy

Africa healthcare: Reducing import dependency

Nigeria is not alone, across the continent, investment in local capacity for the production of health products is growing, as self reliance in Africa healthcare becomes a priority. Notably, more and more African countries are now prioritizing healthcare self-reliance in their national industries, science, and health strategies.

The G20 were informed of how, for Africa healthcare to be independent, regional partnerships are emerging in Africa, investments increasing, technology transfer accelerating, and manufacturers are expanding their capacity on the continent. 

Detailing on his example, the Nigerian Minister of Health and Social Welfare cited Nigeria as Africa’s most populous nation which now stands as the region’s health products manufacturing hub and helping make Africa healthcare, self reliant.

“Nigeria offers a glimpse of what’s possible when commitment meets action,” he said.

Nigeria, home to nearly 60 per cent of West Africa’s pharmaceutical production capacity and is stepping up local investment in the sector. Last year, it laucnhed what is known as the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC).

To get PVAC going, the government of Nigeria signed an agreement with Vestergaard, a Swiss manufacturing company, to establish Africa’s first manufacturing hub for dual-insecticide treated bed nets, a vital step in combating malaria.

“Through PVAC, Nigeria is boosting regional supply-chain resilience,” he underscored saying this is a major steps towards making Africa healthcare independent.

Further, in April of this year, Nigeria announced that it is working to increase local pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing to meet 70 per cent of its domestic demand and to also contribute at least 15 per cent of the continent’s need by 2030. 

He said the country is also strengthening its regulatory oversight through its National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control. In this respect, the agency now seeks studies to confirm that generic medicines work just the same as brand names.

“Nigeria is positioning itself to become a regional supplier of health products and in so doing, it is also demonstrating how African countries can reduce import dependence and build health systems that are both resilient and self-reliant,” the minister proudly noted.

He cited Nigeria’s Emzor Pharmaceuticals which has injected a whopping USD23 million investment in a new Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) production facility in Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria, due to begin operations later this year.

Notably, APIs are the first step in the complex pharmaceutical supply chain. It is these active ingredients that make medicines effective and are later combined with other ingredients to make the final consumer products sold in form of tablets or capsules etc

According to the minister, currently, nearly all of Africa’s APIs come from outside the continent, mainly from China…and India dominates in producing the finished medicines that imported by African countries.

“When it begins operations later this year, the Emzor plant will serve to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported raw materials and bolster its role as a regional manufacturing hub,” he explained.

Summing up, he emphasized the need for African governments and development partners to support such initiatives by procuring regionally made health products.

Worth noting is that in East Africa, Unitaid, a  World Health Organization firm, has partnered with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and UK’s MedAccess along with gas companies based in Kenya and Tanzania through the East African Program on Oxygen Access to build sustainable, locally owned medical oxygen production infrastructure in the two countries.

“These facilities are designed not only to treat patients today, but also to ensure that the region can respond more quickly and more independently when the next crisis comes,” he concluded saying Africa healthcare self reliance is inevitable.