President John Mahama has urged African leaders to accelerate efforts to manufacture medicines, vaccines and medical equipment on the continent.

He warned that continued reliance on imports leaves Africa vulnerable during global health crises.

Addressing the African leaders at the African Union Extraordinary Health Summit in Accra, the President said the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the risks of depending on external suppliers after African countries struggled to access vaccines despite having the resources to pay.

“Africa imports around 70% of its medicines, more than 90% of its medical devices and over 99% of its vaccines. We learnt a bitter lesson,” he said.

President Mahama said encouraging progress is already being made, pointing to vaccine production in Senegal, advances in mRNA technology in South Africa, Rwanda’s growing biotechnology sector and Ghana’s plans to establish a vaccine manufacturing industry.

He also announced that the African Medicines Agency is transitioning from treaty status into a fully operational institution, while a continental strategy for pharmaceutical ingredients and joint procurement is expected to boost local manufacturers.

The President said strengthening pharmaceutical production would not only improve health security but also create industries and jobs for Africa’s growing youth population under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“Health value chains mean factories, laboratories and dignified work for our young people,” he stated.

The summit is to focus on tackling preventable maternal deaths, communicable and non-communicable diseases prevalent across the continent, while advancing strategies to strengthen Africa's health systems by the end of the decade.