During the COVID-19 pandemic, Africa's dependence on vaccines imported from abroad really came to light: While vaccines against the novel coronavirus were seen as an important milestone in containing the pandemic globally, they also were in short supply and due to unequal distribution mechanisms, only became available to lower-income African countries after significantly long delays. 

At that time, governments across the continent decided to ensure they had greater independence in the production of vaccines and medications in future years. But five years after the height of the pandemic, is Africa still headed in that direction?

COVID-19: the 'turning point' that revolutionized African pharma

"COVID was a turning point — we are on our way," says Lenias Hwenda, the founder of Medicines for Africa, a non-profit organization that promotes healthcare across Africa.

"Before the pandemic, there was insufficient awareness of how vulnerable the continent was, as it was 99 percent dependent on vaccine imports, and over 90 percent dependent on drug imports," Hwenda told DW, adding that since then, "African leaders emerged from this crisis with a renewed political commitment to expand local production of drugs and vaccines."

A lot of change has indeed happened in the past five years: Not only are medical centers in Egypt producing their own drugs to treat diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, but in other parts of the continent, local vaccine production is also becoming a reality.

In South Africa, companies such as Biovac and Afrigen are expanding their vaccine manufacturing capacities significantly; in Senegal, the Pasteur Institute is now producing vaccines against yellow fever.

Pharmaceutical production facilities are also being set up in Ghana, Nigeria, and Cote d'Ivoire, while Zambia is developing a cholera vaccines in collaboration with China.

In East Africa, the governments of Kenya and Rwanda are promoting the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector in collaboration with Western partners: BioNTech, the German company behind the COVID-19 vaccine developed in cooperation with Pfizer, has built factories in Rwanda, with mRNA test production set to begin later this year.

This is being regarded as a flagship project for further mRNA-based vaccine production facilities elsewhere in Africa. 

But there's still a long way to go: According to information from the international vaccine alliance Gavi, only 0.1 percent of all vaccines in the world currently are being produced in Africa — despite the fact that 20 percent of the world's population live on the continent.

Africa still dependent on imports

The push for expanding the pharmaceutical industry in Africa is by far no longer about the coronavirus vaccine, but is rather intended to expedite the distribution of vaccines against other diseases such as malaria, Mpox and potentially HIV in the future.

Despite these recent development and notable initiatives, the continent remains heavily dependent on imports  — particularly from China and India.

According to Hwenda, regional organizations such as the East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have put forward strategies on how research and manufacturing could better be implemented on the continent in the future.

But even in these ambitious strategies, consensus ultimately appears to be reached through compromise among the various stakeholders: Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, African heads of government could only commit to increasing the proportion of vaccines manufactured in Africa from just one percent before COVID to 60 percent by 2040.

That is the stated goal of the African Union.

Some cautious optimism

Above all, a lack of infrastructure and inadequate healthcare systems seem to be major hurdles on the path to reaching a sustainable rate of self-sufficiency for African nations.

Hwenda remains hopeful, citing the establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA) in Kigali in 2024 as a major step forward, among other things.

In the future, AMA will coordinate the harmonization of the regulation of medical devices in Africa, pool expertise and capacities together across borders, and also regulate selected medical devices.

Meanwhile in June 2024, the Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty also took an important step in helping African countries reach their goals by inaugurating the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA) in Paris — a new funding system designed to promote vaccine production on the African continent.

AVMA says it seeks to purchase more than 800 million vaccine doses manufactured in Africa over the next ten years in collaboration with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

The initiative will initially cushion the higher production costs of African manufacturers for this limited period of ten years, while the necessary production facilities are being set up.

This way, however, AVMA hopes to contribute to their competitiveness in the medium and long term once those facilities are fully up and running, especially against competitors from Asia. 

The EU announced meanwhile that it would support the initiative with more than €750 million.

More research — and funds — needed

But strengthening Africa's autonomy will be a long process spanning several decades, says Hwenda. 

"Building a health infrastructure is very capital-intensive; funds must flow over the long term so that the goals now set can develop their full potential," she says.

"Now is the time to expand production capacity with sustainable investments, broaden the product range beyond medicines and vaccines to include diagnostics and medical devices, and ensure the long-term profitability of production projects that have already been initiated," Hwenda highlights.

Although governments are also part of these various initiatives, they need to invest more into healthcare and the production of appropriate medicines, says health expert Glenda Gray.

"There is political will," the scientific director of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) told DW, explaining however that this does not necessarily translate into cashflow.

Furthermore, she believes there's another essential component also missing. 

"We need our own discoveries and more technology transfer," says Gray, highlighting that this can include research into new drugs and therapies, or into new ways of understanding or combating disease.

The issue of Africa's vaccine production capabilities will also be on the agenda at the upcoming G20 summit, which will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, in November.

However, it is unlikely to be solved there and then.

Edited by: Sertan Sanderson