African leaders have taken steps to create a powerful future market for medical products for African manufacturers.
Spearheaded by the Africa Centres for Disease Control, a pooled procurement mechanism was agreed upon and signed at the just concluded African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa. The move is expected to create predictable demand and help manufacturer’s long plan towards creating a viable vaccine manufacturing ecosystem.
The Director General of Africa CDC, Dr. Jean Kaseya said: “The decision means the creation of a robust market for manufacturers and ensures the health security of all Africans. This will be the second independence of Africa.”
The African market size for medicines and vaccines is approximately 50 billion USD a year. Africa CDC will be leading the pooled procurement initiative in collaboration with continental and global partners. The move is also designed to ensure that African Union member states can get better deals on price.
The African Union has also voted to appoint H.E. President William Ruto of Kenya as the local manufacturing champion to ensure the continent reaches its goal of vaccine self-reliance. This keeps local manufacturing high on the agenda for the continent and the world and prioritizes health security for the African population. Less than one percent of vaccines are currently manufactured on the continent.
African leaders have a goal that 60% of the vaccines needed by the continent will be manufactured in Africa by 2040.
In a significant move, the AU also voted to broaden the Africa CDC’s mandate to include the manufacturing of medicines and diagnostics, in addition to its current remit of vaccines.
