Africa has to step up healthcare investment - president

Africa is moving to reduce its reliance on imported medicines and health products through a new continental manufacturing partnership, as President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah calls for the continent to invest more of its own resources in building resilient health systems.

The African Union Development Agency (Auda-Nepad) and global health organisation Unitaid signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York last week, aimed at strengthening Africa’s capacity to manufacture essential medicines and health technologies locally.

The partnership will initially target maternal and newborn health products, helping African countries reduce their vulnerability to global supply chain disruptions, price fluctuations and delays in accessing essential medical commodities.

The agreement comes as Nandi-Ndaitwah, speaking separately at a high-level maternal and child health event in New York, warned that Africa’s health systems cannot remain excessively dependent on unpredictable external financing.

She called for increased domestic investment in maternal healthcare, infrastructure and human capacity.

“We appreciate the support of our international development partners in strengthening Africa’s health systems. However, such support should complement Africa’s own investment rather than create dependency,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.

“African countries must increase domestic investment in maternal health, infrastructure and human capacity to build resilient and sovereign health systems,” she said.

The president said investing in health is "not merely expenditure, it is an investment in human capital, economic resilience, national productivity and the future of Africa".

Reducing reliance on imports

Heavy dependence on imported health products leaves African countries exposed when international supply chains are disrupted or prices rise, Auda-Nepad and Unitaid said in a statement.

Such disruptions can be particularly dangerous for mothers and newborn babies, where delays in accessing quality-assured medicines and medical products can be life-threatening.

The agreement establishes a framework through which the two partners will combine policy, investment, market intelligence, innovation and partnerships to improve the conditions for sustainable African manufacturing.

A major component will be the African Health Security Manufacturing Initiative (AHSMI), which will initially focus on maternal and newborn health, identifying priority health products that could be sustainably manufactured on the continent.

“Through AHSMI, we are bringing together evidence, policy, investment and African manufacturing capability to move from ambition to delivery, while ensuring that maternal and newborn health remains at the centre of this effort,” Auda-Nepad chief executive Nardos Bekele-Thomas said.

Unitaid executive director Dr Philippe Duneton said sustainable regional manufacturing could help ensure health products reach patients faster and more equitably.

He said the partnership combines Auda-Nepad's continental leadership with Unitaid’s experience in shaping health-product markets.

Health sovereignty

Nandi-Ndaitwah similarly framed increased domestic investment in healthcare as part of a broader African push towards health sovereignty and ownership of the continent’s development agenda.

She said Namibia spends about US$397 per person on healthcare and is among the highest healthcare spenders in the African region.

Namibia is one of five countries in the WHO African Region that meet or exceed a cited baseline of US$271 per capita.

She argued that health spending should therefore be viewed as an investment in human capital, economic resilience and productivity rather than simply an expense.

The president also called for maternal healthcare to reach Africa’s remote communities.

“No woman should have to face that struggle without skilled care simply because of where she lives or what she earns,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.

“Maternal care needs to be established even in deep rural areas of Africa.”