Ghana has taken a major step towards strengthening its pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing sector after signing an agreement to participate in the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM).

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

The agreement provides Ghanaian pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturers with a structured pathway to access markets in all 55 African Union member states.

The APPM is designed to aggregate demand for health products across Africa. It is expected to create more predictable demand for African-made medicines, vaccines and medical equipment.

Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said the agreement gives practical effect to President John Dramani Mahama’s commitment to strengthening local pharmaceutical production.

“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.

He added that the President had also pledged to support Ghanaian producers to access regional markets and participate 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 said.

The National Vaccine Institute (NVI) said the agreement could help address one of the major constraints facing local manufacturers: the limited size of Ghana’s domestic market.

NVI Chief Executive Officer, Dr Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, said local manufacturers had previously been constrained by a market of about 33 million people.

“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.

He said the agreement supports President Mahama’s vision of positioning Ghana as a regional hub for vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

The arrangement could also provide a continental market for products manufactured locally.

“It guarantees that when we manufacture Tetanus Diphtheria vaccines and Anti tetanus Serum in 2026, and other essential products including Snake Venom anti Serum which we have already manufactured in 2025, we have a continental market ready to buy,” Dr Sodzi-Tettey said.

Ghana’s participation will remain subject to the regulatory authority of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), including marketing authorisation, import control, batch release and post-market surveillance.

The next major step will be the operationalisation of Ghana’s participation in the APPM.

The NVI and Africa CDC will jointly lead this process during a regional meeting to be hosted in Accra in November 2026.

The meeting is expected to bring together policymakers, regulators, manufacturers and procurement agencies to agree on the supply catalogue, technical specifications and implementation arrangements.

Dr Sodzi-Tettey said the NVI was committed to making the November meeting successful and ensuring it has practical implications for local manufacturing.