African nations aim for 60% local manufacturing by 2040

African leaders have adopted a declaration aimed at increasing local production of health products across the continent. The move, formalized at the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, seeks to reduce reliance on imports and bolster health sovereignty.

The presidential declaration commits African Union member states to producing at least 60 per cent of their health products locally by 2040. This shift involves pooled procurement, financing mechanisms, and skills transfer initiatives.

Africa’s Reliance on Imports

Africa currently imports between 70 and 90 per cent of its pharmaceuticals and nearly all its vaccines and high-end diagnostics, despite a population exceeding 1.4 billion. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted this vulnerability, with export bans and supply chain disruptions leaving many African countries struggling to access essential medical supplies. Virologist Oyewale Tomori emphasized the need to reverse this trend through demand aggregation, long-term offtake agreements, and the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM).

The African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM)

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is central to the strategy, championing the APPM as a “Buy African” initiative. The APPM Capital Fund is intended to support African manufacturers. For Nigeria, a leading pharmaceutical market, the declaration presents a potential turning point, given its existing manufacturing base including companies like Fidson Healthcare Plc, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Biovaccines Nigeria Ltd., and Innovative Biotech.

Financing and Capacity Building

Health economist Maimuna Abdullahi noted that predictable pooled procurement contracts can improve manufacturers’ access to capital, addressing a key challenge for African producers. The declaration also commits AU member states to mobilizing sustainable financing and operationalizing “Regional Capacity and Capability Networks” to enhance skills development and technology transfer.

Challenges and Requirements

Vaccine development expert and CEO of Innovative Biotech, Simon Agwale, cautioned that achieving the 60 per cent local production target by 2040 requires regulatory harmonization across African markets. He also highlighted the need for stable power, industrial infrastructure, access to affordable foreign exchange, and strong national medicines regulatory authorities. For Nigeria, alignment among the Federal Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and financial institutions will be crucial.

Future Summits and Health Security

The declaration endorses an Extraordinary Summit on African Health Products Manufacturing in Nairobi in the second quarter of 2026, to be chaired by Kenyan President William Samuel Ruto. Public health policy analyst Gabriel Adakole argued that local manufacturing is now a health security necessity, citing supply constraints during recent global emergencies like the COVID-19 and mpox outbreaks. Strengthening domestic production can reduce vulnerability to global shocks, create jobs, and build resilient supply chains.

Nigeria’s Potential Role

Observers suggest that the AU’s 2040 target could reshape Africa’s health economy and redefine its place in global health supply chains. For Nigeria, the success of this initiative could catalyze long-awaited reforms in industrial policy, financing, and regulatory strengthening, potentially positioning the country as a regional pharmaceutical hub.