African Development Fund invests more than $6 million to develop the pharmaceutical sector in South and East Africa | African Development Bank

The board of directors of the African Development Fund, the concessional lending arm of the African Development Bank Group, approved a $6.63 million grant to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) on November 2, 2022 in Abidjan to develop the pharmaceutical sector in the sub-region.

The project, which will be implemented over three years (2023-2025), is institutional support for the development of the pharmaceutical industry in the region. In particular, it will strengthen the capacity of pharmaceutical regulatory authorities, product quality control and management systems, and research and development institutions. The goal is to produce and market safe, high-quality pharmaceuticals for Covid-19 and other diseases.

The project will support the sub-regional agency in implementing continental pharmaceutical manufacturing strategies and help streamline and harmonize drug registration processes and ensure access to essential medical products and technologies. There will also be an information platform for pharmaceutical manufacturers, importers and exporters.

The project directly benefits public institutions responsible for the development of the pharmaceutical industry, such as national drug regulatory authorities, quality control laboratories, regional providers of pharmacy training, universities and research centers.

“The aim is to enable them to support the pharmaceutical sector so that they can produce safe essential medicines locally for the needs of the population, especially women and children,” said Leila Mokaddem, director general of the African Development Bank for Southern Africa. Africa.

“Most countries in the region have a weak and underdeveloped pharmaceutical industry. The region relies heavily on imports for most of its medical supplies. In addition, due to low local pharmaceutical production, there is a high prevalence of counterfeit pharmaceutical products in circulation, which has serious consequences for the well-being of the people of the region,” she added.

While the project is intended to directly benefit COMESA’s ADF eligible countries, other countries that are members of the Banking Group are allowed to participate in project activities and events, but for a fee.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa is a regional economic community made up of 21 countries: Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.