A senior Ghanaian official on Tuesday called for urgent action to strengthen local healthcare manufacturing across Africa to secure the continent’s healthy future.
Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, senior policy advisor to Ghanaian Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, made the appeal at the opening of the African Healthcare Manufacturing Trade Exhibition and Conference, the continent’s leading healthcare manufacturing forum, which kicked off in Accra, the Ghanaian capital.
The three-day event has drawn delegates from 111 organizations across 26 African countries.
Ampofo said Africa must foster stronger collaboration and healthy competition to advance local healthcare production, “because the continent’s strength lies in solidarity, when a regulator in Kenya, an investor in South Africa, and a manufacturer in Ghana act as one strategic ecosystem.”
He said Ghana is pursuing a transformative agenda to modernize and expand its manufacturing capacity, particularly in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, and to build a globally competitive industrial base anchored on value addition, innovation, and regional trade integration.
The goal is to make Ghana the preferred source of high-quality, African-made healthcare products — driving jobs, export revenue, and self-sufficiency across the continent, Ampofo said.
“Our policy vision aligns with the promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” the official said, adding that AfCFTA offers a unique opportunity to develop integrated regional value chains and reduce dependency on imports.
For Ghana, he said, the AfCFTA framework supports expansion of pharmaceutical manufacturing, improved access to finance, skills development, and the creation of infrastructure and incentives to make local production competitive.
The conference also saw the launch of the African Manufacturing Market Intelligence and Network Analysis, featuring data from 700 manufacturers and 2,500 health products across 18 countries. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
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