Government, pharmaceutical manufacturers and industry leaders have made a renewed push for local drug production, innovation and skills development as Ghana seeks to reduce its dependence on imported medicines and position itself as a pharmaceutical manufacturing hub in Africa.

The commitment was made at the 2026 Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana (PMAG) Conference in Accra where stakeholders agreed on a shared roadmap for achieving pharmaceutical sovereignty through stronger local production, research, technology transfer and strategic policy support.

Speaking at the conference, Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said Ghana cannot guarantee health security while it remains heavily dependent on imported medicines, vaccines and other health products.

He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the risks of relying on global supply chains.

“Pharmaceutical sovereignty does not mean producing every medicine locally.”

“It means building the capacity to manufacture a strategic range of essential health products while maintaining reliable partnerships for products that cannot yet be produced in Ghana,” Mr. Akandoh noted. 

The Minister announced that the government is implementing the newly approved National Pharmaceutical Policy to expand local production, attract investment, strengthen quality standards and improve coordination across the value chain.

Key measures include:

1.   The Ministry of Health is reviewing framework contracts to reserve a larger share of government medicine purchases exclusively for qualified local manufacturers.

2.   Manufacturers were urged to access funding through Ghana EXIM Bank to modernize operations and expand exports.

3.   Progress is being made on local vaccine manufacturing through international technology partnerships. 

Plans include local production of tetanus-diphtheria vaccines following the successful registration of a locally produced snake antivenom.

Mr. Akandoh also called for stronger collaboration between manufacturers, universities and research institutions, and urged technical schools to align training with industry needs.

He added that Africa imports more than US$40 billion in pharmaceutical products annually—a major opportunity for Ghanaian firms to serve regional markets under ECOWAS and AfCFTA.

Dr. Kofi Nsiah-Poku, President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), also described pharmaceutical manufacturing as a strategic priority for jobs, health security and economic transformation.

He however highlighted that the sector faces major hurdles: high electricity and water costs, exchange rate volatility, expensive financing, and heavy reliance on imported APIs, excipients, packaging and equipment.

“Our pharmaceutical value chain is inverted,” Dr. Nsiah-Poku said. 

“We import almost everything needed for production and only undertake the final formulation locally. This exports jobs and value while making the industry vulnerable to foreign exchange shocks.”

AGI proposed a five-point industrial compact:

1.  Establish pharmaceutical industrial parks under the government’s 24-hour economy initiative.

2.  Create a Ghana Pharma Innovation Fund.

3.  Develop local API manufacturing capacity.  

4.  Reform curricula to produce industry-ready professionals.

5.  Enforce local content policies with at least 60% of medicines procured by government hospitals and the NHIS sourced from qualified local manufacturers.

Dr. Samuel Amo Tobbin, President of PMAG, also said true sovereignty requires developing the entire value chain, not just finished products.

“A country that manufactures finished medicines but imports nearly all its pharmaceutical inputs has only solved half the sovereignty problem,” he said.

Dr. Tobbin urged companies to tap into government’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and AI Fund to improve research, quality assurance and manufacturing efficiency.

Stakeholders agreed that with coordinated investment, policy consistency and regional market access, Ghana can move from being a net importer to a net exporter of essential medicines.