Health is a high-growth investable sector, not charity - Mahama tells African leaders

President John Dramani Mahama urged African leaders, financiers, and industrialists to view the health sector as a lucrative economic opportunity rather than a social responsibility during the Alamein Africa Forum. Mahama highlighted that health is an investable, high-growth sector that can create jobs, drive manufacturing, and enhance macroeconomic stability for Africa's 1.4 billion people.

He criticized the historical misconception that health should be treated as a budget line-item expenditure, arguing that it is now clear that investing in health generates significant economic returns. For instance, the Copenhagen Consensus found that every dollar spent on basic emergency maternal and newborn care yields $87 in economic and social benefits. Similarly, the Lancet Commission demonstrated that reduced mortality rates have contributed to a quarter of income growth in developing economies.

Mahama warned that Africa currently imports over 70% of its pharmaceuticals and nearly 99% of its vaccines, which incurs substantial foreign exchange costs. He emphasized that Africa needs to develop local manufacturing capabilities to counter these challenges. The President outlined four key pillars for local manufacturing: a growing market fueled by Africa's projected population of 2.5 billion by 2050, import substitution to preserve foreign exchange and avoid supply shocks, the expansive African market as a unified entity of 1.4 billion consumers under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and pooled procurement to secure lower prices for health products.

Mahama suggested that local production would not only secure health for African mothers and children but also create jobs in research and development, clinical trials, engineering, and biotechnology. He pointed to successful examples such as Egypt's elimination of Hepatitis C through local production and Nigeria's African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja, which has redirected billions of dollars from outbound medical tourism.

To facilitate this transition, Mahama introduced HINGE, a digital platform designed to streamline regulatory processes, clinical validations, and commercialization for innovators and investors. He called on governments, private capital, industrial developers, commercial banks, and sovereign funds to collaborate in building African pharmaceutical plants.

Mahama emphasized the need for de-risking instruments and blended finance structures to attract investment into African pharmaceuticals. He encouraged corporate initiatives like the Business United for Mothers, Babies, and Youth (BUMBY) to integrate health into their capital allocation strategies. Mahama concluded by urging all stakeholders to stop treating health as a mere expense and instead invest in building the infrastructure, manufacturing capacity, and innovation needed to secure Africa's health future.