President John Dramani Mahama has urged African countries to accelerate investment in local pharmaceutical manufacturing to reduce the continent’s dependence on imported medicines and vaccines and strengthen its health security.

Speaking at the Health Plenary of the Alamein Africa Forum in Alamein, Egypt, President Mahama said Africa currently imports more than 70 per cent of its pharmaceuticals and nearly 99 per cent of its vaccines.

He said the dependence was resulting in significant foreign exchange outflows while leaving African countries exposed to disruptions in global supply chains.

“Each year, tens of billions of dollars leave our economies to purchase medicines from abroad,” President Mahama said.

He argued that the situation presented not only a challenge but also “a significant market opportunity for domestic capital” as African countries seek to build resilient pharmaceutical industries.

The President identified a growing African market, import substitution, foreign exchange protection and the African Continental Free Trade Area as key pillars of the business case for domestic pharmaceutical production.

He said Africa’s projected population of 2.5 billion by 2050 would create expanding demand for essential medicines, chronic disease management and biologics. Under the AfCFTA, he said, manufacturers could potentially serve a continental market rather than being restricted to individual national markets.

President Mahama also cited the Africa CDC’s first pooled tender for maternal and child health products as evidence of the potential of coordinated African demand.

He said the initiative achieved price reductions of between 30 and 90 per cent while African manufacturers secured 50 per cent of the product lines.

“Coordinated demand guarantees cash flows for producers,” he said, calling on bankers, institutional investors and industrial leaders to support pharmaceutical manufacturing as a resilient area for investment.