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More than $3 billion was invested into pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing in Africa in the past year. In this op-ed, Ethiopis Tafara, the Vice President for Africa at the International Finance Corporation, examines why local pharmaceutical manufacturing could become a major jobs engine for the continent alongside improving health security.
“Health manufacturing can be part of the unemployment answer. It can help meet the jobs challenge while advancing the African Union’s ambition to ensure 60% of the medicines and diagnostics used in Africa are made in Africa by 2040,” says Mr Tafara.
He argues that pharmaceutical manufacturing will only scale if countries build strong systems around it, including infrastructure, regulation, procurement, logistics and private investment. According to him, Africa’s pharmaceutical expansion will depend on whether governments and investors can build industries capable of creating skilled jobs.
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By Ethiopis Tafara, Vice President for Africa at International Finance Corporation
In Diamniadio, near Dakar in Senegal, a major vaccine factory called Madiba is being built by Institut Pasteur de Dakar with support from the World Bank Group and development finance partners. Once complete, the factory could produce up to 300 million vaccine doses every year.
The project represents a major shift for Africa, which still imports between 80% and 99% of its vaccines. Only 6% of medical supplies and 10% of pharmaceuticals used on the continent are produced locally.
This dependence becomes dangerous during global crises. When supply chains break down, clinics run out of vaccines and medicines, and health workers struggle to protect communities.
Building pharmaceutical factories in Africa is therefore not only about healthcare. It is also about creating stronger systems, including reliable regulation, logistics, procurement, and manufacturing capacity. Most importantly, it is about jobs.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s working-age population is expected to grow by more than 600 million people over the next 25 years. By 2050, the region will need around 25 million new jobs every year. Health manufacturing could help meet part of that demand while supporting the African Union’s goal of producing 60% of Africa’s vaccines, medicines, and diagnostics locally by 2040.
Africa currently has about 700 medical product manufacturers, but many operate at small scale and face challenges such as weak regulation, limited product ranges, and inconsistent quality systems.
To address this, the World Bank Group launched the AIM2030 initiative in Nairobi, focusing on countries including Senegal, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Egypt, and Morocco.
The strategy focuses on three areas:
Building infrastructure such as power, water, transport, and industrial parks.
Supporting policies and financing that reward quality production.
Attracting private investment to scale manufacturing.
The International Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, is helping companies raise financing and attract investors for pharmaceutical projects.
In Ethiopia, the Kilinto pharmaceutical park near Addis Ababa is becoming a major production hub. During the COVID-19 pandemic, insulin prices rose by 130%, while more than half of health facilities reported vaccine shortages. Since then, reforms and investment have helped expand manufacturing. Industrial parks now account for about one in seven new formal private-sector jobs, many taken by young women. Ethiopia could create more than 50,000 pharmaceutical manufacturing jobs by 2030 and increase exports to $900 million by 2028.
In South Africa, vaccine manufacturer Biovac is expanding production capacity, including work on the country’s first locally developed oral cholera vaccine. A new vaccine facility in Cape Town is expected to add another 250 million doses annually.
Aspen Pharmacare has also received major development financing packages worth €600 million in 2021 and €500 million in 2024 to expand vaccine production, sterile injectables, insulin, and paediatric vaccines.
The broader message is that Africa can move from importing finished health products to building the industries that produce them. But success will depend on coordinated investment in regulation, infrastructure, skills, procurement, and financing.
If those systems work together, Africa could strengthen health security, grow pharmaceutical exports, and create thousands of skilled jobs across the continent.