President John Dramani Mahama has unveiled a new continental digital platform designed to tear down regulatory barriers and accelerate investment in Africa’s pharmaceutical and health manufacturing sector.
The Health Investment and National Gateway Enabler, known as HINGE, was launched during President Mahama’s keynote address at the maiden Alamein Africa Forum in Egypt.
The platform is being developed in collaboration with the African Medicines Agency, Institut Pasteur and AfroChampions and is intended to bring regulation, clinical validation and commercialisation into a unified process for health innovators and investors.
President Mahama said the fragmented regulatory environment across African countries has been one of the major obstacles preventing the continent from developing a competitive health manufacturing industry.
He said HINGE would provide investors and innovators with a more predictable pathway for navigating regulatory requirements and bringing health products to market.
The initiative comes against the backdrop of Africa’s heavy dependence on pharmaceutical imports.
According to President Mahama, the continent imports more than 70 per cent of its pharmaceuticals and nearly 99 per cent of its vaccines, with tens of billions of dollars leaving African economies each year to purchase medicines from abroad.
He warned that the situation leaves African countries vulnerable whenever global supply chains are disrupted, as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic and other health emergencies.
“Today, we present HINGE, the Health Investment and National Gateway Enabler,” President Mahama said, describing the platform as part of efforts to eliminate the regulatory and financial friction holding back the sector.
He also called for the urgent operationalisation of the African Medicines Agency to establish a harmonised continental regulatory system.
He challenged African regulators to consider a system where approval of a medicine in one jurisdiction could open access to all 54 African Union member states.
The President further called on private investors, industrial developers, commercial banks and sovereign funds to provide the capital required to establish pharmaceutical plants and develop regional health value chains.
He said Africa must move beyond basic packaging and “fill-and-finish” operations towards the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients on the continent.
Under the Accra Reset Presidential Council, he said Ghana was deploying dedicated task forces and a Reform Interlock Observatory to track capital flows, enforce policy commitments and tackle non-tariff barriers affecting regional value chains.
President Mahama said the ultimate objective was to build health sovereignty for Africa’s 1.4 billion people, while retaining investment, skills and jobs on the continent.
The Alamein Africa Forum, held from October 2 to 4, brought together African leaders, investors, financial institutions and business executives to explore investment, manufacturing and regional economic integration.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
