Launch remarks · 12 May 2026
Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, Ministers, Distinguished Partners, Private sector leaders, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Kenya is honoured to host you here in Nairobi at a defining moment in Africa’s journey towards health sovereignty and industrial transformation.
I extend my sincere appreciation to the African Union Commission, the World Bank Group, and all our partners whose leadership and commitment have made this event possible. Excellencies,
Africa bears nearly 25% of the global disease burden despite accounting for less than 20% of the world’s population. Yet our continent still produces less than 6% of its medical supplies, only about one-third of its pharmaceutical needs, and a mere 1% of the vaccines it consumes. This is more than a health gap. It is a structural vulnerability.
Africa’s pharmaceutical expenditure stands at approximately 25 dollars per capita, compared to a global average of more than 160 dollars. That disparity reflects not only constrained access but also underdeveloped markets and limited industrial capacity.
Across the continent, nearly 700 pharmaceutical manufacturers exist. Yet most remain small to mid-sized, fragmented, and concentrated in only a handful of countries. This limits scale, competitiveness, resilience, and our ability to respond effectively to future crises.
We also continue to face persistent structural barriers: fragmented regulatory systems, limited market integration, inadequate infrastructure, skills gaps, and insufficient demand certainty, all of which deter large-scale private investment.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed these weaknesses with devastating clarity. Africa was last in line. We must never allow that to happen again.
No single country can resolve this challenge alone. To overcome fragmentation and achieve scale, we must act as one continent.
This requires the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area to unlock a market of nearly 1.6 billion people; the accelerated operationalisation of the African Medicines Agency to strengthen regulatory harmonisation and trust; and coordinated investment strategies capable of creating predictable and bankable markets. Excellencies,
Africa’s pharmaceutical market stood at approximately 30 billion dollars in 2024. By 2030, it is projected to exceed 50 billion dollars. This is not only a health imperative. It is one of the most compelling industrial opportunities of our time.
The Africa Initiative for Medical Access and Manufacturing, AIM2030, is our collective response. AIM2030 is not a declaration. It is a delivery platform.
It is designed to expand equitable access to quality medical products, strengthen health system resilience, and drive industrialisation through manufacturing, innovation, and job creation.
It aligns directly with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and with our shared ambition to produce at least 60% of Africa’s health products locally by 2040. Kenya is ready to play its role.
Our country is strategically positioned as the gateway to Eastern Africa’s fastest-growing economic bloc, supported by a strong and expanding domestic market, world-class logistics anchored by the Port of Mombasa and the Standard Gauge Railway, a skilled and dynamic workforce, and a stable, business-friendly environment.
We are taking deliberate steps to strengthen our pharmaceutical ecosystem. This includes enhancing the capacity of our National Regulatory Authority to achieve World Health Organisation Maturity Level 3, thereby ensuring global confidence in the quality, safety, and efficacy of Kenyan-manufactured products.
Our ambition is clear: to position Kenya as a regional hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing, health innovation, and medical supply chains. And this journey is already underway.
In Addis Ababa, we built consensus around regulation, trade, skills, and investment. At the World Bank Spring Meetings, AIM2030 was introduced to the global community, with early investments such as Biovac in South Africa demonstrating what is possible.
Now, here in Nairobi, we move decisively from ambition to execution, from commitments to bankable projects, and from dialogue to delivery.
To African governments: let us fully implement our commitments on regulatory harmonisation, market integration, and industrial policy so that we can unlock Africa’s manufacturing potential.
To development partners and implementing institutions: let us move with urgency to structure and finance scalable, bankable projects capable of delivering results at speed and at scale.
To the private sector; Africa presents a market of nearly 1.6 billion people and a rapidly growing demand for health products. This is your moment to invest, to scale production, and to anchor long-term partnerships on the continent.
Excellencies, Africa has the science. Africa has the workforce. Africa has the market. And Africa has the will.
Through AIM2030, we will transform these assets into a resilient and self-sustaining health ecosystem, built in Africa, for Africa. I thank you. ###