Africa Is Building Drug Factories - Now It Needs Enough Buyers

Africa is pouring money into pharmaceutical manufacturing as governments seek to reduce dependence on imported medicines. The bigger challenge may be finding enough buyers to keep the factories running.

About 70% to 80% of medicines consumed in Africa are imported, according to the Access to Medicine Foundation. The continent also relies on overseas suppliers for about 95% of its active pharmaceutical ingredients and almost all of its vaccines.

That dependence was exposed during the Covid-19 pandemic, when African countries struggled to secure vaccines and other essential medical supplies as richer markets competed for limited global production.

Now governments and manufacturers want to build a more resilient supply chain at home. The risk is that investment in factories could outpace demand.

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