Less than 1% of vaccines used in Africa were manufactured on the continent prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The structural undersupply was well documented, but the policy and capital response only consolidated through the early 2020s. By 2026, the opportunity has been materially reframed.
The policy environment
Three policy frameworks now define the strategic landscape for pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa:
- The African Union Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA): a continent-wide industrial-policy framework targeting domestic production of essential medicines.
- The Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) initiative: coordinated through Africa CDC, with a stated target of 60% of vaccines used in Africa being manufactured on the continent by 2040.
- The African Medicines Agency (AMA), ratified in 2019 and operationalising through the 2020s, providing a continent-wide regulatory pathway analogous in scope to the EMA in Europe.
Alongside these, multilateral commitments from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, and bilateral health-financing institutions have placed multi-billion-dollar capital pools behind African pharmaceutical manufacturing through 2030.
What this asks of credible operators
The policy and capital environment is unusually well aligned. What it asks of credible operators is specific:
- Local manufacturing footprint, not import-and-relabel arrangements.
- Regulatory engagement with national authorities (NAFDAC, SAHPRA, others) and with the AMA as it operationalises.
- Technology transfer and skills development, not extractive capacity build-out.
- Demonstrated quality systems that meet WHO prequalification and stringent regulatory authority standards.
Alifarc’s Nigeria entity is being established with this opportunity in view. The continental policy environment is not the only reason for the placement, but it is a meaningful one.