ýýThe 2025 African Healthcare Manufacturing Trade Exhibition and Conference (AHMTEC) held recently in Accra, ended with a call on participants and stakeholders to help strengthen Africa’s healthcare manufacturing ecosystem.
ýýThe event, which convened 264 participants representing 60 manufacturers and 110 organisations, with coverage by 24 media outlets, reconfirmed its determination to drive industry-led solutions toward continental self-reliance.
ýýA lot of Ghanaian manufacturers participated in the event and contributed to the event’s facility site visits.
ýýLed by the Gates Foundation and Africa CDC (with Health 4 Development support), the ýAfrican Manufacturing Market Intelligence and Network Analysis (AMMINA) provided centralised data from 18 countries, 700 manufacturers, and 2,570 products to inform decisions and investment.
ýýStrong participation by the African Medicines Agency (AMA), Africa CDC and AUDANEPAD also reinforced institutional support for the effective, quality assured industrialisation of Africa’s healthcare manufacturing industry.
ýýAgain, the Women in Healthcare Manufacturing Africa (WiHMA) network, launched at AHMTEC 2024, gained momentum under the patronage of Dr. Stella Okoli, Founder of Emzor, and Nigeria. The network saw increased membership and commitment to women’s leadership in manufacturing and allied industries.
ýýIt also saw the first industry engagement on UNITAID’s US$ 50 million Regional Manufacturing for Equitable Access in Africa (RMEA) initiative for increase product capacity and market access for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and maternal healthcare products (treatment and diagnostics).
ýýAccording to Dr Mariatou Tala Jallow, the commitments, collectively referred to as the Accra Declaration, solidified a path forward to increase investment in the production of quality-assured products and build capacity.
ýýShe asked procuring stakeholders to prioritise market access and increase demand for locally produced healthcare products while advocating unified policies across national and regional frameworks, leveraging the various ongoing initiatives and increasing African manufacturers’ participation for continent-wide market entry.
ýýThe conference further called for the establishment of an urgent Healthcare Manufacturing Funders Forum to drive collaboration, deploy innovative financing, and align investment with African priorities.
ýýIt announced that AHMTEC 2026, comes off between 6 and 8 October in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ýýWhile the Accra Declaration establishes a framework for accountability, it stated that the Addis Ababa event will serve as the forum to evaluate measurable progress, deepen industry collaboration, and accelerate Africa’s path to manufacturing self-reliance.