By Iyemah David
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has intensified calls for more health financing reforms and accelerated local pharmaceutical manufacturing to reduce out-of-pocket spending and strengthen the continent’s health sovereignty.
Deputy Incident Manager at Africa CDC, Professor Yap Boum II, identified inefficiencies in national health systems as a major driver of high direct household payments across African countries during a bi-weekly high-level regional press briefing on Thursday.
“In countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, studies show that about $800 million is lost annually to ghost workers.
“Digitising payroll systems can recover these funds and redirect them towards service delivery,” he said.
Prof. Boum II noted that household payments account for between 30 and 40 per cent of total health expenditure in many African nations, making reforms critical to improving access to essential medicines and protecting families from catastrophic health costs.
He said national health insurance reforms, stronger financial accountability mechanisms and digital systems are key to curbing leakages and expanding healthcare access across the continent.
Beyond financing reforms, he highlighted Africa CDC’s push to scale up local production of medicines and vaccines through initiatives such as the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA).
“Within the next two to three years, we expect more locally produced medicines and vaccines to enter the market at more affordable prices,” Boum II said.
He reiterated Africa’s ambition to manufacture 60 per cent of its vaccines locally by 2040, describing it as central to the continent’s health security and sovereignty agenda.
“Currently, Africa imports the vast majority of its vaccines and medical products, a dependency exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he noted.
Boum II also underscored pooled procurement as a strategic mechanism to support African manufacturers.
“By aggregating demand across member states, the African Union can guarantee a predictable market for African producers while lowering costs through bulk purchasing,” he explained.
He reaffirmed political support behind the “Buy African” policy, urging governments to prioritise locally manufactured vaccines, medicines and medical supplies in national procurement systems.
However, he acknowledged that achieving the 2040 manufacturing target would require closing huge financing gaps, mobilising billions of dollars in public and private investment, and accelerating infrastructure development to meet global regulatory standards.
He said focus is now on the upcoming Extraordinary AU Health Summit in Nairobi, where Heads of State are expected to discuss concrete steps to accelerate local vaccine and pharmaceutical production.
“The summit aims to secure high-level political commitments, define clear manufacturing timelines, unlock new financing pledges and reinforce collective procurement strategies among member states,” he said.
Also speaking, Dr Landry Tsague stressed that local production is both a health security and sovereignty priority.
Dr Tsague said Africa has a ready and growing market for medical products, but the continent must strengthen infrastructure, financing frameworks and political will to compete with global manufacturing capacity.
