Africa’s “Pharmaceutical Sovereignty” Wave – Local Manufacturing Target of 60%, Import Substitution Window Has Opened

In 2026, the African continent is undergoing an unprecedented “pharmaceutical sovereignty” movement. In February, African leaders signed the Presidential Declaration on Advancing Local Manufacturing of Health Products in Africa. Then, in May, health experts from 11 East and Southern African countries gathered in Mombasa and formally proposed an ambitious target – to achieve 60% local production of essential medicines, vaccines, and health products by 2040.

The Cost of Import Dependence

Africa’s current dependence on pharmaceutical imports is astonishing. According to expert disclosures, about 80% of medicines and about 99% of vaccines used in Africa are imported. The continent spends more than US$28 billion annually on pharmaceutical procurement. This high level of dependence was laid bare during the COVID‑19 pandemic – Africa accounted for only 0.1% of global vaccine production but is home to 20% of the world’s population, and was placed at the back of the vaccine access queue in the early stages of the pandemic.

“This is basically like we are importing almost all health products,” said Dr Stephen Njuguna, Chair of the IGAD Local Manufacturing Community of Practice. Over‑reliance exposes African health systems to risks from global supply chain disruptions, export bans, and price volatility.

Local Manufacturing Accelerates

In response, African countries and regional organisations are pushing forward the local manufacturing agenda at an unprecedented pace:

• Gavi’s AVMA programme: The African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator has facilitated 13 technology transfer agreements and built commercial‑scale production facilities in six African countries since its launch in 2024. In 2026, Gavi further proposed the AVMA+ programme, with an additional US$189 million investment, and committed to directly purchasing up to 70 million doses of African‑manufactured vaccines through competitive tenders.

• Africa CDC Procurement Mechanism: In July 2026, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention officially launched the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM), which uses a collective funding pool to procure medicines and vaccines, both to secure member states’ supply security and to incentivise local manufacturing.

• National Strategies Taking Shape: Kenya released its Local Manufacturing Strategy for Health Products and Technologies 2026‑2030 in June 2026; COMESA has developed a ten‑year Green Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Strategy (2026‑2035); and the African Export‑Import Bank provided US$75 million in support for facilities used in the production of medical equipment, vaccines, and biological products.

  
  

• Profound Implications for Trade Enterprises

• What does the wave of African localisation mean for medical trade enterprises? In the short term, import demand for basic medicines and routine consumables may be gradually replaced by local production. However, in the medium to long term, this actually opens new business windows for Chinese medical trade service providers:

• First, technology cooperation and equipment supply. Building local manufacturing capacity in Africa requires large quantities of production equipment, testing instruments, and raw materials – creating new export opportunities for Chinese medical device and pharmaceutical machinery manufacturers.

• Second, growth in intermediate goods trade. Local assembly and production require imports of components, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and intermediate products, and this type of trade demand will steadily increase.

• Third, upgraded service demands. African manufacturers need professional support in technology transfer, quality control, GMP certification, and product registration. A one‑stop foreign trade service provider can extend its value chain, upgrading from simply “selling products” to “selling solutions”.

• As World Bank Lead Health Specialist Ramesh Govindaraj noted, policy coordination, stronger national regulatory authorities, and greater private sector involvement remain central to this agenda. For medical trade enterprises aspiring to deeply cultivate the African market, now is a critical window for strategic positioning.