Government has reaffirmed its commitment to fostering innovation and building a resilient pharmaceutical sector that promotes self-reliance and access to essential medicines across Africa.
Minister of Technology and Science, Felix Mutati, said the commitment aligns with the government’s agenda to enhance local production, strengthen supply chains, and promote technology transfer in the health sector.
In a speech read on his behalf by his Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Brilliant Habeenzu during the official opening of the Pharma-Connect Africa Conference 2025 in Lusaka, Mr Mutati said technology has the power to transform health systems and improve access to affordable healthcare when effectively harnessed.
He said the government is implementing the Eighth National Development Plan (8NDP), which places science, technology, and innovation at the centre of Zambia’s industrialisation and economic transformation agenda.
Zambia is also part of key regional frameworks, including the African Union’s Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa, the SADC Industrialisation Strategy, and the COMESA Regional Pharmaceutical Plan.
Mr Mutati said innovation in the pharmaceutical sector requires policy coherence, human capital development, and market access to attract private investment and boost local value addition.
“With this approach, Zambia’s pharmaceutical sector has the potential to contribute millions of dollars to the national manufacturing GDP and create more than 5,000 skilled jobs by 2030,” he said.
The minister further disclosed that Zambia is finalising processes to ratify the African Medicines Agency (AMA) treaty, which seeks to harmonise regulatory standards and improve access to quality-assured medicines across the continent.
He added that the future of healthcare in Africa lies in investing in people, particularly in equipping young scientists and engineers with skills in biotechnology, regulatory science, and pharmaceutical engineering.
The Government, through the Ministry of Health and higher learning institutions, has introduced the Doctor of Pharmacy programme to meet the growing demand for expertise in biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Mr Mutati also said medicine security has been recognised as part of digital security, with the digital transformation strategy prioritising e-logistics, data interoperability, and smart traceability systems to eliminate counterfeit medicines.
“As we look to the future, our actions must be guided by science, collaboration, and accountability,” he said, reaffirming Zambia’s commitment to promoting innovation and industrial capacity development in line with Africa’s pharmaceutical self-reliance agenda.
And SADC Senior Programmes Officer, Lanboly Kumboneki, says SADC is pleased to be part of an initiative where they can discuss the future of pharmaceutical industry and supply.
Mr Kumboneki noted that it is important to examine the role of innovation and system modernisation in order to address the ongoing challenges to medicines access.
“It is important to identify what is required in order to foster a culture of innovation that explores the causes of intractable medicine access issues,” he said.
Mr Kumboneki has reaffirmed SADC’s continued partnership with the government in order to improve the application of accessing medicines.
