From Policy to Production: UNIDO Drives Africa’s Health Industry Shift

In 2023, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization launched its Health Industry Framework with a clear objective. The aim was to move beyond policy dialogue and support countries to build resilient pharmaceutical and biomanufacturing ecosystems. Three years on, that ambition is beginning to materialise through concrete industrial action.

Between 2023 and 2025, implementation of the framework has shifted from planning to scale. Pharmaceutical ecosystem assessments were completed in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya. At the same time, more than one hundred good manufacturing practice baseline assessments were conducted across Africa, supporting the development of national and regional GMP roadmaps, including for all ECOWAS Member States.

In Senegal, where 95 percent of medicines are imported, national efforts supported by UNIDO seek to raise local production to 50 percent. Engagement is also expanding beyond Africa, with increasing demand from countries in Eurasia and the Middle East.

Turning diagnostics into decisions

UNIDO’s pharmaceutical ecosystem assessments in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya were supported by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through BMZ. These diagnostics go beyond high-level analysis, identifying specific constraints in manufacturing capacity, regulation, investment and workforce skills.

The findings directly informed newly developed UNIDO guideline packages on technology transfer and business partnerships, as well as on investment promotion, innovative finance and regulatory frameworks for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Designed for immediate use, the guidelines translate evidence into clear implementation pathways for governments, regulators and manufacturers.

In parallel, UNIDO introduced Lean Local API Manufacturing, a practical approach to producing active pharmaceutical ingredients locally, aimed at reducing import dependence and vulnerability to global supply disruptions.

Pharmaceuticals as a future industry

UNIDO’s Industrial Development Report 2026 identifies pharmaceuticals and health industries as priority future-oriented sectors across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The report positions health industry development as a driver of green, digital and innovation-led industrial transformation, reinforcing the strategic importance of domestic production capacity.

Senegal shows what implementation looks like

In Senegal, UNIDO’s engagement illustrates the move from assessment to execution. With support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, UNIDO works closely with the Institut Pasteur de Dakar to strengthen national biomanufacturing capacity.

Partnerships with industry leaders such as Sartorius have enabled virtual reality-based bioprocessing training, accelerating workforce readiness. At factory level, UNIDO supports corrective and preventive action diagnostics, quality system strengthening and structured roadmaps towards international standards, including progress towards World Health Organization prequalification. Support also extends to greenfield facilities, embedding good manufacturing practices from the design phase.

Alejandro Rivera Rojas, Division Chief for Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Manufacturing at UNIDO, says the current phase marks a clear shift. The focus is now on hands-on work with manufacturers, regulators and training institutions to close concrete gaps in quality systems, workforce skills and technology transfer readiness.

From the industry perspective, Aziz Cissé, Director of the Senegalese Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry, underlines the scale of the challenge. With the country importing almost all medicines and health products, reversing dependency requires strong technical and financial partnerships. He describes UNIDO’s specialised training, quality support and industrial audits as essential to making Senegal’s strategy work.

Expanding partnerships and demand

Beyond Africa, cooperation has expanded with the United Arab Emirates through the establishment of a Health Industry Readiness Centre focused on industrial preparedness, regulatory alignment and technology transfer readiness. The partnership supports knowledge exchange in advanced manufacturing, API production and vaccine technologies, with planned expansion into genomics.

Interest in UNIDO’s health industry approach is also growing across Eurasia, including Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, where governments have requested joint strategy development and technical guidance.

Built on long-standing technical foundations

UNIDO’s current health industry portfolio builds on more than two decades of technical cooperation in pharmaceutical manufacturing across Africa and Asia. During this period, the organisation has supported GMP roadmaps, regulatory strengthening, pharmaceutical sector strategies and industrial upgrading.

In partnership with the West African Health Organization, UNIDO developed a regional GMP roadmap framework for the ECOWAS region, complemented by country-specific roadmaps for all Member States. These apply a risk-based, stepwise approach to guide manufacturers towards international manufacturing standards and compliance.

This work aligns with the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa, linking quality assurance, industrial upgrading and sustainable local production. Over time, UNIDO’s interventions have strengthened regulatory alignment, compliance capacity and technology transfer readiness by improving quality systems, production processes and workforce competencies.

What comes next

From 2026, UNIDO will expand implementation under the Health Industry Framework through new activities in Ghana under the European Union Global Gateway initiative. This includes plans for a regional biomanufacturing training centre aligned with African Union and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention priorities.

Regional integration and scale-up of local pharmaceutical production will be reinforced through the Africa Competitiveness and Market Access Programme, funded by the European Union with EUR 200 million under Global Gateway. The pharmaceutical value chain is identified as a priority sector across multiple regions.

Additional efforts will focus on regulatory preparedness, workforce development and quality investment facilitation through UNIDO’s newly developed guidelines. In parallel, UNIDO is advancing joint action with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to address falsified and substandard medicines, and preparing to act as an implementing partner of the World Bank Pandemic Fund.

From framework to factory floor, UNIDO’s health industry work is entering a phase defined by delivery and scale. For African countries still building young industrial systems, this shift reflects a realistic path towards health security and economic resilience, grounded in local capacity and long-term industrial development rather than continued dependence.

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