By Edward Dankwah, GNA
Accra, Sept. 07, GNA – Ghana has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), to join the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM), opening a continental market for local vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The agreement, signed on August 21, 2026, in Accra, gave practical effect to President John Dramani Mahama’s directive to prioritise locally produced vaccines and pharmaceuticals in public procurement and secure regional market access for Ghanaian producers.
A statement issued in Accra said the MoU was signed by the Government and Africa CDC, with Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Minister of Health, representing Ghana alongside Dr Jean Kaseya, the Director-General of Africa CDC.
Mr Akandoh said Ghana’s participation in the APPM fulfilled a commitment made by President Mahama at the Ghana Vaccines Manufacturing Investment Forum in Accra in August 2025.
He said the President had directed reforms to ensure locally produced vaccines and pharmaceuticals were prioritised in public procurement, while pledging support for Ghanaian producers to access regional markets through the APPM.
Mr Akandoh said Ghana’s participation would be complemented by ongoing efforts to establish an Advance Purchase Commitment system to de-risk investments in local pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing.
Dr Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Vaccine Institute (NVI), said the APPM was established under African Union Assembly Decisions urging Member States to join the continental pooled procurement mechanism.
He said the mechanism would provide Ghanaian pharmaceutical manufacturers, including emerging companies under the planned Ghana Pharmaceutical Hub, with a structured pathway to supply quality-assured health products, vaccines and medical equipment to African markets.
Dr Sodzi-Tettey said the arrangement would help address the limitations of Ghana’s relatively small domestic market by creating more predictable demand and improving the prospects for sustainable investment in local manufacturing.
He said the APPM would also strengthen health security by improving access to affordable and quality-assured health products while enhancing collective purchasing power and intra-African trade.
The CEO said Ghana’s regulatory authority would remain intact, with all procurement under the APPM subject to the regulatory oversight of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) for marketing authorisation, import control, batch release and post-market surveillance.
He said the FDA’s status as a World Health Organisation (WHO) Maturity Level Three regulator for medicines, provided assurance that products supplied through the mechanism would be subject to appropriate quality and safety standards.
He described the agreement as a defining moment for Ghana and the Institute, saying it would expand the market available to local manufacturers from about 33 million people to more than 1.4 billion Africans.
He said the arrangement would support Ghana’s ambition to become a regional hub for vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturing, noting that locally produced products such as Tetanus Diphtheria vaccines, Anti-tetanus Serum and Snake Venom anti-Serum could now be positioned for a wider continental market.
Dr Sodzi-Tettey said the NVI was committed to working with Africa CDC to ensure that Ghana’s participation translated into practical opportunities for local manufacturers and contributed to pharmaceutical manufacturing sovereignty on the continent.
He said the next phase would involve the joint operationalisation of Ghana’s participation during the Regional Meeting on the APPM scheduled to be hosted in Accra in November 2026, bringing together policymakers, regulators, manufacturers and procurement agencies to agree on the supply catalogue, technical specifications and implementation arrangements.
The NVI, established under the National Vaccine Institute Act, 2023 (Act 1056), is mandated to coordinate, supervise and facilitate local manufacturing of vaccines and sera in Ghana.
GNA
Edited by Christabel Addo