President William Ruto has called for accelerated investment in Africa’s pharmaceutical manufacturing and health sovereignty agenda during the high-level AIM2030 breakfast meeting held alongside the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi.
The President said Africa can no longer rely heavily on external supply chains for medicines, vaccines, and critical health products, noting that the continent bears nearly 25 per cent of the global disease burden but produces less than 6 per cent of its medical supplies.
He emphasised the need for Africa to build strong, integrated, and self-sustaining manufacturing ecosystems capable of responding to future health emergencies while creating jobs, driving industrialisation, and strengthening economic growth.
President Ruto called for faster implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), operationalisation of the African Medicines Agency (AMA), and coordinated investments to unlock scale, harmonise regulation, and create predictable markets for local manufacturers.
He reaffirmed Kenya’s commitment to positioning itself as a regional hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing, health innovation, and medical supply chains through strategic investments, regulatory reforms, and infrastructure development.
The President further urged governments, development partners, and the private sector to move from commitments to action by financing scalable and bankable projects capable of transforming Africa’s healthcare landscape.
Through AIM2030, President Ruto said Africa is taking deliberate steps towards building a healthcare future designed, manufactured, and sustained by Africans for Africa.
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