From the newsletter
Africa is no longer fully dependent on global medical stockpiles for emergency responses, following the launch of Africa’s first medical warehouse by the Africa CDC in Ethiopia. The continental health agency now has physical infrastructure to procure and deploy critical medical supplies directly when countries need them.
Global stockpiles have repeatedly failed African countries during crises. Cholera vaccines are the most recent example. Since 2022, some African countries have not been able to run preventive campaigns because the global stockpile, based in South Korea, was empty.
Centralised warehousing gives African pharmaceutical manufacturers clearer demand visibility and faster procurement cycles. It also enables the Africa CDC to prioritise inventory from local producers.
More details
Located at Africa CDC’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, the 1,000-square-metre facility was developed with funding from the Mastercard Foundation and technical support from the World Food Programme. It is equipped with cold-chain systems and designed to support rapid dispatch during outbreaks.
The move follows years of disruption caused by shortages in global medical stockpiles. Oral cholera vaccines offer a good example. Preventive cholera vaccination campaigns were suspended globally from 2022 after stockpiles were depleted, leaving African countries unable to administer vaccines even as outbreaks intensified. Preventive campaigns only resumed in February 2026 after global supply recovered.
Africa has a high burden of cholera yet vaccine availability has been determined by a global stockpile located in South Korea, with limited production capacity and competing global demand. Establishing a warehousing capacity lays the groundwork for pre-positioned supplies that can be mobilised without waiting for global allocations.
Local and regional pharmaceutical producers have long faced uncertain demand and fragmented procurement. Centralised warehousing gives African pharmaceutical manufacturers clearer demand visibility and faster procurement cycles. It also enables the Africa CDC to hold inventory from local producers.
The warehouse is part of Africa CDC’s broader Supply Chain Framework, which includes a planned regional hub in Douala, Cameroon, within the African Union Continental Logistics Base. The facilities are intended to serve as continental and regional distribution points for emergency health supplies.
Our take
Local manufacturing has been a policy talking point by global health partners for years. Africa’s first medical warehouse is one of the first steps that actualises these talks.
For local pharmaceutical manufacturers, a centralised warehouse creates predictable procurement and a clear pathway for African companies to supply critical medicines at scale.