President Mahama Calls for African Health Sovereignty at Alamein Forum
Mahama urges African leaders to treat health as an investable sector, not a cost, at Egypt forum.
President John Dramani Mahama told African leaders at the Alamein Africa Forum on 3 October 2026 that health must become a priority for the continent. He argued that treating health as a charitable expense was a mistake and instead called it an investable, high‑growth sector. Mahama said Africa’s 1.4 billion people need both health sovereignty and economic security. He cited evidence that a dollar spent on maternal and newborn care can return up to $87, according to the Copenhagen Consensus, and that falling mortality contributed to nearly a quarter of income growth in developing economies in the early 2000s. The President warned that Africa imports more than 70 % of its pharmaceuticals and nearly 99 % of its vaccines, costing tens of billions of dollars each year. He noted that donor assistance is expected to fall by 29‑46 % compared with 2024 levels, making private capital essential for the transition. Mahama urged governments, private investors, manufacturers and banks to fund new health factories, integrate supply chains and support innovators. He highlighted four reasons for building a local pharmaceutical industry: a market of 2.5 billion people by 2050, foreign‑exchange savings, jobs and the single market created by the African Continental Free Trade Area. He pointed to the Africa CDC’s pooled procurement that cut prices by over 30 % and gave African firms half of the contracts. Mahama cited examples of Egypt’s hepatitis‑C elimination and Nigeria’s medical‑tourism savings as proof that local production works. In Ghana, he said the government is expanding the National Health Insurance Scheme, launching a free primary‑care programme, creating the MahamaCares fund and strengthening the FDA and National Vaccine Institute. He announced the Health Investment and National Gateway (HINGE) platform, developed with the African Medicines Agency and others, to streamline regulations, clinical testing and commercialisation for health innovators. Task forces under the Accra Reset Council will monitor funding, enforce policy promises and remove trade barriers across regional value chains.
