Strengthening Local Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in Africa: EPN’s Faith-Based Advocacy for Health Sovereignty

Across Africa, healthcare systems continue to face recurring medicine shortages, high medicine costs, procurement delays, and supply chain disruptions. While the continent carries nearly 25% of the global disease burden, Africa currently produces only about 3% of the world’s pharmaceuticals and imports between 70% and 80% of finished medicines. Vaccine dependency remains even higher, with the continent importing almost all of its vaccine needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the dangers of overreliance on international supply chains. Border closures, export restrictions, and global competition for medicines and vaccines revealed the urgent need for Africa to strengthen local pharmaceutical manufacturing and build more resilient health systems.

It is within this context that the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (EPN) is advancing a strategic advocacy agenda on local pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa.

What is Local Pharmaceutical Manufacturing?

Local pharmaceutical manufacturing refers to the production of medicines, vaccines, medical products, and pharmaceutical ingredients within African countries and regions rather than relying primarily on imports. Local manufacturing includes: Production of essential medicines, vaccine manufacturing, packaging and formulation, production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), quality assurance and laboratory systems and regional pharmaceutical supply chains.

Strengthening local manufacturing is increasingly viewed as essential to achieving health sovereignty, medicine security, affordable healthcare, and sustainable access to quality medicines across the continent.

Global and Continental Momentum for Local Manufacturing

The push for local pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa is supported by growing international, continental, and regional initiatives.

African Union and Agenda 2063

The African Union (AU) has identified pharmaceutical manufacturing as a key pillar of Africa’s health sovereignty agenda under Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. Through the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA), the AU seeks to: Reduce dependence on imported medicines, expand regional manufacturing capacity, improve medicine quality and availability, strengthen regulatory systems and promote regional trade and industrialization. The AU has also prioritized the operationalization of the African Medicines Agency (AMA) to harmonize medicine regulation across countries and strengthen confidence in African-produced medicines.

AUDA-NEPAD and Priority Medical Products – The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) continues to support regional pharmaceutical manufacturing through technical guidance and strategic planning. One of the major initiatives is the identification of 24 Priority Medical Products for regional manufacturing. These products include essential medicines for maternal health, infectious diseases, and non-communicable diseases.  AUDA-NEPAD is also supporting regional manufacturing roadmaps and market integration efforts aimed at strengthening economies of scale across Africa.

World Health Organization (WHO) – WHO has consistently emphasized the importance of strengthening local manufacturing capacity to improve medicine security and pandemic preparedness. WHO supports: Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), regulatory system strengthening, technology transfer initiatives, vaccine manufacturing capacity and quality assurance systems. WHO’s regulatory maturity framework has become an important benchmark for strengthening National Medicines Regulatory Authorities (NMRAs) across Africa.

African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) –  AfCFTA presents an important opportunity for pharmaceutical market integration. By reducing trade barriers and supporting regional supply chains, AfCFTA can help local manufacturers access larger markets and improve competitiveness.

Why Faith-Based Health Systems Matter

Faith-based organizations play a major role in healthcare delivery across Africa, especially in underserved and rural communities. EPN members include: Christian Health Associations, Mission hospitals, Drug Supply Organizations, Pharmaceutical supply systems, Health systems strengthening organizations and Individual pharmaceutical professionals. These networks serve millions of people and are often responsible for medicine procurement, distribution, quality assurance, and last-mile access. Because of this unique role, faith-based health systems are strategically positioned to contribute to Africa’s pharmaceutical manufacturing agenda.

EPN’s Strategic Initiative on Local Manufacturing

Recognizing the growing importance of local manufacturing, EPN launched a strategic project in 2026 to develop a comprehensive faith-based position paper on local pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa. The initiative seeks to:

1. Strengthen medicine security within faith-based health systems
2. Reduce dependence on imported pharmaceuticals
3. Improve supply chain resilience
4. Promote sustainable access to affordable medicines
5. Amplify the voice of faith-based organizations within continental policy discussions

 EPN Webinar on Local Manufacturing

In March 2026, EPN convened a continental webinar  bringing together faith-based pharmaceutical stakeholders, technical experts, and regional institutions. The webinar focused on: Africa’s local manufacturing landscape, Continental policy frameworks, Regional pharmaceutical production challenges, Data collection and evidence generation and Technical exchange among stakeholders. The webinar also launched EPN’s baseline survey on local pharmaceutical manufacturing.

 What the EPN Survey Revealed

The EPN baseline survey gathered insights from 24 organizations across 10 African countries. The findings highlighted major challenges affecting pharmaceutical access and local manufacturing:

• i). One-third of organizations reported frequent medicine stock-outs
• ii). 70.8% expressed concerns about the quality of locally manufactured products
• iii). 66.7% identified limited technical expertise as a major barrier
• iv). 41.7% reported challenges related to limited market size and fragmented markets
• v). Many organizations cited procurement delays, import dependency, and high costs as major drivers of medicine shortages

Despite these challenges, all respondents agreed that local manufacturing is critical for Africa’s long-term health resilience. The survey also showed that many faith-based organizations already procure locally manufactured products where possible, demonstrating an existing foundation for regional market growth.

 EPN’s Position on Local Manufacturing

EPN supports the growth of a strong, fair, and high-quality local pharmaceutical industry in Africa to ensure access to safe, affordable, and effective medicines, especially for underserved communities served by faith-based health systems. Based on evidence from assessments, literature, and surveys, EPN outlines the following positions:

1. Medicines as a Public Good – Local production is essential to address frequent stock-outs reported by 33.4% of members, driven by import dependence and supply chain disruptions.
2. Zero Tolerance for Poor Quality Medicines –With 70.8% of members expressing concerns about product quality, EPN promotes strong quality assurance and regulatory compliance.
3. GMP Compliance –EPN supports phased implementation of WHO GMP standards to ensure safe, globally competitive local production.
4. Faith-Based Networks for Market Stability –With 79.2% already procuring locally, EPN promotes structured local procurement and regional collaboration. Faith-based systems also support last-mile delivery and equitable access. Limited market size (41.7%) can be addressed through pooled demand and regional cooperation.
5. Regulatory Harmonization – EPN calls for harmonized medicine regulation to improve cross-border movement of quality-assured products.
6. Capacity and R&D Investment – EPN highlights the need to address limited technical capacity (66.7%) through training, partnerships, and investment in R&D, including API production. Incentives such as tax relief and industrial zones are encouraged.
7. AU Model Law Implementation – EPN mobilizes its 149-member network to support adoption of the AU Model Law for harmonized pharmaceutical regulation.

Recommendations

1. Prioritize Essential Medicines –Focus local manufacturing on high-impact products such as maternal health medicines (Oxytocin), NCD treatments (Insulin), and malaria medicines, aligned with AUDA-NEPAD’s 24 priority products and the AU goal of 60% local vaccine production by 2040.
2. Strengthen Regulation and Quality Systems – Address the trust gap (70.8%) by strengthening regulatory systems. Accelerate establishment of the African Medicines Agency and support countries to reach WHO Maturity Level 3.
3. Improve Procurement and Market Integration – Adopt Local First procurement policies and use AfCFTA to enable pooled regional demand, helping manufacturers achieve scale and competitiveness.
4. Build Skills and Technology Capacity – Address the 66.7% skills gap through training, partnerships, and investment in APIs and advanced pharmaceutical production.
5. Provide Incentives and Infrastructure – Reduce high production costs (25%) through tax incentives, industrial zones, subsidized utilities, and low-interest financing.
6. Strengthen Supply Chains – Reduce stock-outs (33.4%) by increasing local sourcing and leveraging faith-based networks for last-mile distribution.

Validation and Stakeholder Engagement

In 11 May 2026, EPN will convene a hybrid validation meeting at MEDS Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, bringing together faith-based leaders, technical experts, and stakeholders to review and validate the draft position paper. The validation process will consolidate stakeholder inputs, align advocacy priorities, strengthen policy recommendations and build consensus around faith-based engagement in local manufacturing

Looking Ahead

Africa’s path toward health sovereignty requires coordinated action across governments, regulators, manufacturers, development partners, and healthcare providers. For faith-based health systems, local pharmaceutical manufacturing is not only an industrial issue. It is a public health, equity, and resilience issue.

By supporting stronger local manufacturing systems, Africa can: Improve medicine security, reduce supply chain disruptions, lower medicine costs, strengthen pandemic preparedness, expand access to essential medicines and build sustainable health systems.

EPN remains committed to working with regional and global partners to advance a trusted, equitable, and resilient pharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem that serves communities across Africa.