Improving Access to Essential Medicines Through Local Manufacturing in Africa By Hlazo Mkandawire © 2026 World Bank Group,

Africa’s pharmaceutical industry is caught in a paradox: while the continent bears a quarter of the global disease burden, it imports over 70% of its medicines. For the diabetic patient in South Africa, the mother seeking vaccines in Nigeria, or the elderly man needing antibiotics in Kenya, this reliance on foreign pharmaceuticals leaves them—and millions of others—vulnerable to shortages and high prices that predominantly hurt middle-and low-income populations. https://www.ifc.org/en/stories/2026/improving-access-to-essential-medicines-through-local-manufacturing-in-africa © 2026 World Bank Group,