President Mahama Makes Big Announcement Again

President John Dramani Mahama has announced a new initiative aimed at attracting more investment into Africa’s healthcare industry and strengthening the continent’s capacity to manufacture essential medical products.

The initiative, dubbed the Health Investment and National Gateway (H-Enabler), is expected to provide a central framework through which health innovators, manufacturers and investors can navigate regulatory requirements, clinical processes and commercial opportunities.

President Mahama unveiled the initiative during his keynote address at the Alamein Africa Forum in Egypt, where he called for a stronger focus on pharmaceutical manufacturing and the development of integrated health value chains across Africa.

He said H-Enabler was being developed with the involvement of the African Medicines Agency, Institut Pasteur and Afrochampions, with the objective of addressing regulatory bottlenecks and financing challenges that continue to limit growth in the continent’s health sector.

The platform is expected to bring several stages of the health investment process together through a data-driven system, allowing businesses and innovators to move more efficiently from regulatory assessment and clinical validation to commercialisation.

President Mahama stressed that reducing bureaucratic obstacles would be critical to creating a more attractive investment environment for pharmaceutical producers and other healthcare businesses.

He pointed to Africa’s continued reliance on external suppliers, noting that the continent imports more than 70 per cent of its pharmaceutical products and almost 99 per cent of its vaccines.

According to him, the situation not only drains significant financial resources from African economies but also exposes countries to supply disruptions during periods of global crisis.

He said H-Enabler would contribute to a more predictable investment environment while helping African countries build stronger links between production, financing and healthcare markets.

The President also highlighted Ghana’s efforts under the Accra Reset Presidential Council to improve conditions for regional investment and trade.

He said dedicated task forces and reform interlock observatories were being deployed to monitor capital movements, assess the implementation of policy commitments and identify non-tariff barriers that could undermine regional value chains.

Mr Mahama urged private-sector investors, industrial developers, commercial banks and sovereign funds to play a larger role in financing the expansion of Africa’s health manufacturing industry.

He also called on regulators across the continent to accelerate the establishment and effective operation of the African Medicines Agency.

A common regulatory framework, he argued, could reduce duplication and allow medicines approved through a harmonised continental system to gain access to multiple African markets more efficiently.

President Mahama said stronger cooperation among regulators, combined with investment in local pharmaceutical and vaccine production, would be central to improving Africa’s health sovereignty.

He added that expanding domestic manufacturing would help African countries reduce their dependence on imports while putting them in a stronger position to deal with future health emergencies and disruptions to international supply chains.

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