Ghana has taken a major step towards becoming a regional hub for vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturing after signing an agreement to participate in the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM).

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on August 21, 2026, in Accra by the government of Ghana, represented by Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), represented by its Director-General, Dr Jean Kaseya.

The agreement is expected to give Ghanaian pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturers access to a much larger continental market while creating more predictable demand for locally manufactured health products.

Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said the agreement gives practical effect to a commitment made by President John Mahama at the Ghana Vaccines Manufacturing Investment Forum in August 2025.

“This MoU gives practical effect to the commitment of President John Mahama at the Ghana Vaccines Manufacturing Investment Forum held in Accra in August 2025,” he said.

He said the President had directed reforms to ensure locally produced vaccines and pharmaceuticals are prioritised in public procurement in Ghana.

The President had also pledged to support Ghanaian producers in accessing regional markets and participating in the APPM.

“Ghana’s joining the APPM will be strongly complemented by ongoing efforts to set up a system for Advance Purchase Commitment to de-risk investments in local manufacturing in Ghana,” Mr Akandoh added.

The APPM is a continental pooled procurement and market-shaping mechanism established under decisions of the African Union.

Under the arrangement, Ghanaian pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturers will have a structured pathway to supply quality-assured health products, vaccines and medical equipment to all 55 African Union member states through demand aggregation by Africa CDC.

The mechanism is also expected to address one of the major challenges facing local pharmaceutical manufacturing: the limited size of Ghana’s domestic market.

According to the National Vaccine Institute (NVI), the arrangement will create expanded and more predictable demand for African-made products.

It is also expected to strengthen supply security, collective purchasing power and intra-African trade while improving access to affordable, quality-assured health products.

The agreement maintains the regulatory authority of Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) over procurement under the APPM.

The FDA will retain responsibility for marketing authorisation, import control, batch release and post-market surveillance.

The NVI said Ghana’s FDA is a WHO Maturity Level 3 regulator for medicines.

NVI Chief Executive Officer, Dr Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, described the agreement as a defining moment for Ghana’s pharmaceutical industry.

“For years, our local manufacturers have been constrained by a market of 33 million. With APPM, we now have access to a market of 1.4 billion Africans,” he said.

Dr Sodzi-Tettey said the agreement delivers on President Mahama’s vision for Ghana to become a regional hub for vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

He said the NVI expects a continental market to be available when Ghana manufactures Tetanus Diphtheria vaccines and Anti-tetanus Serum in 2026.

He also pointed to snake venom antiserum, which the NVI said it had already manufactured in 2025.

The next major step will be a Regional Meeting of the APPM, to be held in Accra in November 2026.

The meeting will bring together political leaders, policymakers, regulators, manufacturers and procurement agencies to agree on the APPM Supply Catalogue, technical specifications and implementation arrangements.