Africa imports over 70% of its medicines

Expert says making active ingredients locally would change this

NEWS ANALYSIS | THE INDEPENDENT | Africa carries a heavy health burden. It accounts for 25% of the global disease burden despite having only 18% of the global population.

The situation reflects deep-rooted challenges in healthcare access, infrastructure, and socioeconomic conditions.

Yet the continent produces only 3% of global medicines, according to a report entitled “24 Priority Medical Products and Roadmap for Regional Manufacturing in Africa”, published by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) in January 2025. The report says Africa imports over 70% of its medicines. This makes medicine expensive and supply unreliable, dependent on global supply chains.

The report says the 24-priority medical products list and an accompanying roadmap for regional manufacturing were launched “as practical steps toward achieving self-reliance in the African pharmaceutical industry”.

These initiatives focus on scaling up the local production of essential medicines, vaccines, and health products that are critical to public health, particularly in light of Africa’s growing population and disease burden.

The COVID-19 pandemic starkly exposed this vulnerability. Major medicine-exporting countries such as China and India imposed export restrictions to prioritise domestic needs. This left African manufacturers unable to source critical ingredients and medicines. As a result, many local pharmaceutical operations stalled. By March 21, 2020, a total of 54 countries across the globe were experiencing limited exports of medical supplies and medicines associated with the pandemic, including Bulgaria, France, India, Indonesia and the UK. This put Africa in a perilous position in accessing essential supplies. Essential medicines, including antibiotics, antimalarials and cancer treatments, became scarce.

At the heart of the challenge is the over-reliance on imports of active pharmaceutical ingredients. These are key components that make medicines work. Without them, there are no drugs.

Africa imports over 95% of its active pharmaceutical ingredients, mainly from India and China. Importing them makes local production expensive and vulnerable to foreign pricing. This dependency has a severe impact on access to essential medicines.

One example is capecitabine, a medicine used to treat certain cancers. In South Africa, for instance, a six-month course of capecitabine costs about US$2,200. The price underscores the affordability crisis in cancer care across the region.

Making active pharmaceutical ingredients locally would reduce costs by cutting out import fees and shipping delays. It would also boost local economies by creating jobs and encouraging innovation.

Cloudius Ray Sagandira, the Principal Researcher, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, says as a chemist he has expertise in developing agile, cost-effective and Afrocentric processes for producing active pharmaceutical ingredients.

In a recent review, he and his co-authors highlighted the benefits and hurdles in the local manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients on the continent. Their review entitled `Towards continuous flow manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients in Africa: a perspective’ was published in 2024 in the journal Reaction Chemistry & Engineering. It was co-authored by Cloudius Ray Sagandira and Sinazo Nqeketo.

They recommend sustainable ways to establish local production capabilities, using modern manufacturing technologies. One of these is continuous flow manufacturing, a production method where medicines are produced in a continuous stream rather than in batches. It enables faster, safer and more consistent production with less waste and cost. This could make African production more competitive and sustainable.

“But no single technology is a silver bullet. A combination of traditional and modern methods, tailored to local needs, will be key to building a strong pharmaceutical sector,” he says.

They provide examples of countries on the continent which have gone some way to developing manufacturing systems like this. They also outline the hurdles facing full-scale implementation. These include insufficient pilot facilities, funding, and infrastructure costs. A lack of skilled talent is another major hurdle.

“The good news is that momentum is growing. Several African companies are leading the way in producing local pharmaceutical ingredient,” the experts says. They mention Emzor Pharmaceuticals and Fidson Healthcare in Nigeria, Aspen Pharmacare and Chemical Process Technologies in South Africa, Eva Pharma in Egypt, and Dei BioPharma in Uganda.

The governments of Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and Nigeria are also investing in public-private partnerships to support this shift.

“A great deal of investment is needed,” they say.

A report by the African Development Bank said an estimated US$11 billion would be needed by 2030 to fund the growth of Africa’s local pharmaceutical industry. This includes manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients and vaccines. A concept note for `a Collaborative Approach In supporting African Pharmaceutical Industry ‘by the AfDB was presented in Cairo in February 2024. The AfDB developed the 2030 Continental Pharmaceutical and Vaccine Manufacturing Vision and Action Plan, which guide its strategic interventions for the next 10 years under a strategic pillar and 4 enablers. It `strategic pillar’ is to increase the maturity of the industry by supporting the development of local production capacities. It has three `enablers’ namely, enabling regional logistic integration to foster intra-African trade and the creation of trade hubs, helping the implementation of quality industry standards for the African continent, seeding the creation of R&D capacities focusing on Africa specific diseases and needs, and paving the way for increased vaccines manufacturing on the continent.

The experts identify a number of encouraging developments.

In 2023, Emzor Pharmaceuticals secured €14 million from the European Investment Bank to establish a manufacturing plant in Nigeria. This is aimed at accelerating the production of malaria treatments. The Emzor management committed its API production factory in Shagamu, Ogun State, to begin production of up to 400 metric tonnes of API per year, with effect from the first quarter of 2024. The factory was expected to produce Artemether, Lumefantrine, Sulfadoxine, and Pyrimethamine. Emzor however revised its revised its completion timeline for the $23 million plant to Q4 of 2025 due to Nigeria’s intensifying fiscal and monetary pressures. The plant’s civil works were exceeding 90 per cent completion and the installation of critical equipment well underway.  A major element holding down the completion of the project is the regulatory oversight of the API project which is outside of the company’s control. Mangalam Drugs and Organics, an Indian company engaged in the research and development of APIs, intermediates, and speciality chemicals is driving the transfer of technical know-how to Emzor.

The South African government recently supported the establishment of FuturePharma. This is an open-access facility at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Its purpose is to assist pharmaceutical companies across Africa by providing research, development support and workforce training. It is also an investment in reducing the risk in modern active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing.

In addition, research institutions and universities are pioneering research and development in continuous flow manufacturing. Their work focuses on adapting the technology to make production more cost-effective, sustainable and locally viable.

The vision is a continent where every country can produce its own affordable medicines and respond quickly to health crises. It also seeks a thriving pharmaceutical industry.

“With growing partnerships, new technologies and rising investment, this future is within reach,” they say.

But there are hurdles. Africa still imports most of the raw materials needed to make the ingredients. This makes local production expensive and vulnerable to foreign pricing. There’s also a shortage of skilled workers, limited access to capital, and outdated infrastructure.

Solving the challenges

To overcome these barriers, there is a need to: invest in local production of raw materials, offer tax breaks and subsidies, improve electricity supply, and expand training programmes.

Skills development is being driven through various initiatives. Examples include the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Workforce Development Programme and the African STARS (Science, Technology and Research Scholars) Fellowship. Hosted by Stellenbosch University and Institut Pasteur de Dakar, they are helping build a skilled pharmaceutical workforce across Africa.

The initiatives offer tailored technical and leadership training, equipping young scientists from academia and industry to drive sustainable, responsive local medicine and vaccine production.

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Adopted from The Conversation