Key Changes for Pharmaceutical Products and Import/Export in Africa
Despite the fact that pharmaceutical items are currently made in countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, and Egypt, Africa as a whole import more than 80% of its pharmaceutical and medical consumables. However, as early as 2007, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (now the African Union Development Agency, AUDA-NEPAD) sought to address Africa's overreliance on pharmaceutical imports by developing the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA), as mandated by the 2005 Assembly of AU heads of state decision. In 2012, the Assembly of Heads of State approved a PMPA business plan, which includes a set of technical answers to some of the continent's most pressing difficulties in the pharmaceutical industry. Some of the proposed solutions include strengthening regulatory processes and developing a one-stop shop for information, data, and business intelligence for industry actors such as governments, the private sector, RECs, and so on. The PMPA busines...