Heavy Medicine Imports Expose Ghana's Pharmaceutical Industry to External Shocks

Ghana's heavy dependence on imported medicines is leaving the country's pharmaceutical industry exposed to external shocks, while denying the economy significant opportunities to expand domestic manufacturing, create jobs, and retain greater value locally.

The Scale of the Import Dependency
By the government's own reckoning, roughly 70 percent of the medicines consumed in Ghana are brought in from abroad, despite the country possessing the technical capacity to manufacture many of them at home.

President John Dramani Mahama, speaking at a Free Primary Health Care event in Zuarungu in the Bolgatanga East District, put the figure bluntly: "We import 70 percent of the drugs that we use. But we have the capacity to produce those drugs here ourselves".

He disclosed that government has received a five-year plan aimed at achieving greater self-sufficiency in domestic medicine production, with an eye toward eventually exporting to neighbouring countries .

Industry figures largely echo the President's numbers. Nana Samuel A. Tobbin, President of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana (PMAG), has noted that the country still imports more than 70 percent of its medicines, a volume he says places significant pressure on foreign exchange reserves while exposing Ghana to global supply chain disruptions and volatile medicine pricing.

Domestic production currently represents an estimated 30 percent of the roughly US$433 million pharmaceutical market, supported by between 32 and 38 licensed manufacturing firms that employ upward of 5,000 Ghanaians.

A Continental Pattern
Ghana's vulnerability mirrors a broader African pattern. Speaking at the 5th West Africa Pharma and Healthcare Expo in Accra, Anthony Ameka, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of Africa Medical Equipment, Disposables and Devices Manufacturers and Suppliers (FOAMEDDMS), said Africa produces only about 3 percent of global pharmaceutical output while importing between 70 and 80 percent of the medicines its population consumes.

He added that the continent depends on imports for more than 95 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and over 90 percent of advanced medical devices and healthcare technologies, calling the situation a threat to "healthcare security, economic resilience and sustainable development". The African Union has set a target of producing 60 percent of the continent's medicine requirements locally by 2040.

Industry Voices Demand Faster Action
The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) has pressed government to raise local pharmaceutical manufacturing to meet at least 70 percent of the country's medicine needs, framing the current reliance on imports as a growing national security risk rather than a purely commercial concern.

PSGH President Dr Paul Owusu Donkor has separately described local manufacturing as a strategic necessity for both national and continental health security, pointing to the COVID-19 pandemic as the moment that most starkly exposed the risks of import dependency.

At the industry level, manufacturers say they are ready to scale up if government support materialises. Executive Society member Dr Richmond Adusa Poku has said local factories already have the capacity, technical knowledge, and human resources to close the import gap, but need policy backing particularly around the proposed 24-hour economy agenda to expand production, create jobs, and grow exports to markets such as Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Côte d'Ivoire.

Vaccines: An Even Wider Gap
The dependency runs deeper in vaccine manufacturing, where Ghana currently has no domestic human vaccine production at all meaning every childhood immunisation and outbreak-response vaccine must be procured internationally .

In response, government has developed a ten-year roadmap for vaccine manufacturing and established the National Vaccine Institute (NVI) to coordinate development, regulation, and production, anchored by the Vax & Pharm-Ghana Project a collaboration between the Government of Ghana, the World Health Organization, and the European Union.

Structural Constraints on Local Production

Beyond policy gaps, manufacturers face structural headwinds: high production costs, inadequate manufacturing capacity, heavy dependence on imported APIs and excipients, and the effects of cedi depreciation on input costs.

The sector currently contributes an estimated 0.5 percent to national GDP and accounts for up to 13 percent of healthcare expenditure , underscoring both its modest current footprint and its potential for growth if these constraints are addressed.

The Policy Direction
PMAG's 2026 industry conference in Accra was themed around "advancing Ghana's pharmaceutical sovereignty through innovation, requisite skills mix and quality industrial value chain for economic transformation," featuring a keynote on government's policy direction for local manufacturing under the 24-hour economy agenda.

Whether that translates into a durable reduction in import dependency will depend on the interplay of financing, regulatory support from the Food and Drugs Authority, and sustained political commitment across successive budget cycles.

This report draws on statements from the Presidency of Ghana, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, the Federation of Africa Medical Equipment, Disposables and Devices Manufacturers and Suppliers, and the WHO/EU-backed Vax & Pharm-Ghana Project brief.

The Business & Financial Times (B&FT) front-page report of September 10, 2026, first flagged the industry's exposure to external shocks; at the time of writing, the full text of that specific report was not accessible for direct citation beyond its published lead, and this piece has been built around independently verifiable statements and data from the sources listed below.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,

International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. ( USIP)

[email protected]
+233555275880

Sources:
Business & Financial Times (B&FT) "Heavy medicine imports expose industry to external shocks," September 10, 2026

Ghana News Agency "Ghana to expand pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity – President Mahama," August 2026

Nana Samuel A. Tobbin, President, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana (PMAG) Daily Graphic interview ahead of PMAG Day 2026

Business & Financial Times "Revolutionizing healthcare: how a 24-hour economy can transform the pharmaceutical sector"

Ghana News Agency "Africa must boost local pharmaceutical manufacturing – Expo 2026," June 2026

Citinewsroom"PSGH calls for 70% local production of medicines to boost health security," June 28, 2026

Rainbow Radio Online PSGH Executive Member Dr Richmond Adusa Poku interview, March 2026

WHO/AFRO "Advancing Ghana's Health Security: The Vax & Pharm-Ghana Initiative," project brief