Agencies
Africa continues to import most of the medicines it consumes, leaving countries such as Tanzania exposed to foreign supply chains even as governments across the continent increasingly talk about pharmaceutical self-sufficiency.
The problem is particularly visible in Tanzania, where domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing remains far below national demand. Tanzania’s Medical Stores Department (MSD) says it currently sources about 80 percent of medicines from outside the country, making it the country’s largest importer of health commodities.
Government figures presented in the 2026/27 Health Ministry budget show that local pharmaceutical production currently meets only about 10 to 20 percent of Tanzania’s demand for medicines and health products. The government has set a target of reaching 80 percent local production by 2030.
That gap means that a large share of the medicines required by Tanzanian hospitals, health centres and pharmacies must continue to travel through international supply chains before reaching patients.
The dependence is even more striking when individual medicines are considered. Research by REPOA found that only around 16 percent of medicines in its tracer sample were manufactured in Tanzania, while nearly 70 percent came from outside East Africa, with India accounting for a major share. The study also found that more complex medical supplies and equipment were overwhelmingly imported.
The result is a pharmaceutical system that can remain vulnerable to international price changes, shipping disruptions, currency pressures, shortages and geopolitical shocks.
Tanzania is not starting from a complete absence of pharmaceutical manufacturing. The country has pharmaceutical producers and the government is attempting to expand the industry.
A World Bank assessment identified 41 medical-product manufacturing facilities in Tanzania, including 17 pharmaceutical manufacturers and 24 medical-device producers, with additional pharmaceutical facilities under construction. It nevertheless found that around 80 percent of medicines and medical devices used in the country were imported. The assessment identified imported raw materials, high production costs and expensive utilities among the constraints facing local manufacturers.
A 2026 study published in Discover Health Systems similarly found that Tanzania’s pharmaceutical industry remains heavily dependent on imports and that regulatory and institutional fragmentation has constrained the growth of domestic manufacturing. The study noted that Africa as a whole imports more than 70 percent of the medicines it consumes, with manufacturing capacity concentrated in a small number of countries.
Local manufacturers need large and predictable markets to invest in production lines, technology and quality systems. But when governments and procurement agencies continue purchasing substantial quantities from foreign suppliers, domestic manufacturers can struggle to achieve the scale needed to compete.
In May 2026, the Ministry of Health said MSD would give preference to locally manufactured medicines that meet Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority standards before sourcing from abroad. The government also said it was creating a more supportive investment environment, including access to land and infrastructure.
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The wider African picture demonstrates that pharmaceutical manufacturing is possible on the continent, but it is highly uneven.
India has become one of the world’s major pharmaceutical manufacturing centres and is an important supplier to African markets. Tanzania’s own medicine-supply data illustrates this dependence, with Indian products making up a significant proportion of imported medicines found in the country.
Egypt has also developed one of Africa’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturing bases. South Africa and Egypt are among the countries with the largest concentrations of pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities on the continent, according to research published in 2026.
South Africa provides an important example of the strategic direction African countries are now considering.
In 2026, South Africa sought to establish domestic production of lenacapavir, a long-acting HIV-prevention medicine, working with international partners to identify a local manufacturer capable of producing the drug safely and affordably. The initiative came after generic licences for the medicine had been granted to manufacturers in India, Egypt and Pakistan, but not initially to South African companies.
The significance is larger than one HIV medicine. It reflects an argument increasingly made across Africa: countries affected most heavily by particular diseases should have greater ability to manufacture the medicines required to respond to them.
Morocco also demonstrates that African pharmaceutical production does not necessarily mean eliminating imports altogether. The country has developed a substantial pharmaceutical industry while continuing to import pharmaceutical products. World Bank trade data show Morocco imported pharmaceutical products worth about $1.34 billion in 2025, demonstrating that even countries with stronger manufacturing sectors remain connected to international pharmaceutical markets.
South Africa similarly imported pharmaceutical products worth about $2.5 billion in 2025, including more than $650 million from India.
The lesson is therefore not that African countries can simply stop importing medicines.
The issue is whether they can manufacture a much larger share of essential products domestically while using imports for medicines and technologies that cannot yet be produced competitively at home.
Tanzania’s decision to target 80 percent local production by 2030 represents an attempt to move in that direction.
But moving from an estimated 10–20 percent of national demand today to 80 percent within four years would require a major expansion of factories, skilled personnel, quality-control laboratories, technology, raw-material supply chains and access to finance.
It would also require manufacturers to move beyond relatively simple products.
The World Bank has noted that Tanzanian manufacturers have largely concentrated on products such as over-the-counter medicines, generic antimalarials, antiretrovirals and antibiotics, while more complex medical products remain heavily dependent on imports.
Producing tablets locally is one step. Producing active pharmaceutical ingredients, injectable medicines, vaccines, sophisticated diagnostics and other complex health technologies requires considerably greater investment, technical expertise and regulatory capacity.
Without that deeper industrial base, Tanzania could increase the number of medicines carrying a “Made in Tanzania” label while continuing to depend on foreign countries for the ingredients, equipment and technologies needed to produce them.
When Tanzania imports most of its medicines, the country’s health system becomes exposed to international supply disruptions and exchange-rate movements. A weaker local currency can increase the cost of imported medicines and raw materials, while international shortages can make procurement more difficult.
Money spent importing medicines represents expenditure that could otherwise support domestic manufacturing, skilled employment, pharmaceutical research, technology development and tax-generating businesses.
For a country seeking industrialisation, the pharmaceutical sector therefore represents more than a health-sector issue.
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the danger of relying heavily on international supply chains when demand for medicines and medical supplies suddenly rises. Africa’s dependence on imported pharmaceutical products was widely identified as a vulnerability during the pandemic.
Tanzania’s current dependence means another global health emergency, major shipping disruption or prolonged international supply shortage could again place pressure on the country’s ability to obtain essential products.
The government has already recognised the problem. MSD says improving local procurement is intended not only to reduce imports but also to strengthen national health security, employment and domestic investment.
Tanzania has the market, a growing pharmaceutical sector and an official 80 percent production target. What remains uncertain is whether investment, technology, raw materials, infrastructure, procurement policies and regulatory systems can develop quickly enough to turn that target into actual manufacturing capacity.
India, Egypt, South Africa and Morocco show that pharmaceutical manufacturing can become a significant industrial activity in developing economies. But their experience also shows that production capacity is built over years through investment, skills, technology, regulation and reliable markets.
For Tanzania, the central question is therefore no longer simply why the country imports medicines it could eventually manufacture.
It is whether Tanzania can transform its enormous demand for medicines from a source of continued import dependence into the foundation of a competitive domestic pharmaceutical industry before the 2030 target arrives.
