Why Tech Is But One Fix To Africa’s Ailed Pharma Industry

According to McKinsey, there are roughly 375 drug makers in Africa, a continent of over 1.3 billion people. In the Sub-Saharan African region, these establishments are present in only 9 of 47 countries, with small operations that do not often meet international standards.

In places like China and India where there are, at least, 1.4 billion people each, there are 5,000 to 10,500 drug manufacturers, respectively. While the market value for Sub-Saharan Africa stands at just USD 14 B, India and China sit on drug industries of USD 19 B and USD 120 B, respectively.

Obviously, Africa is a still a long way from becoming a leading producer in the pharma economy, which is why 70 to 90 percent of medicines consumed in the sub-region are imported.

Due to this reality, its pharmaceutical supply chains have been overly fragmented for the better parts of the last two decades—in turn, creating room for fake and substandard medications to overtake the market.

Although the amount ve...