Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the 2026–2030 Health Products and Technologies (HPT) Local Manufacturing Strategy aims to have at least 50 per cent of essential health products manufactured locally.
Speaking in Nairobi on Monday during the official opening of the sixth PharmaReg AfriSummit, Duale said the government was actively building what he described as health sovereignty through investments in local manufacturing and Universal Health Coverage.
“Our 2026–2030 HPT Local Manufacturing Strategy sets an ambitious target: to manufacture at least 50 per cent of our essential health products locally,” Duale said.
He said the government was supporting local pharmaceutical manufacturers as Kenya seeks to position itself as a competitive regional manufacturing hub.
Duale, however, said increased local production must be matched by strong regulatory systems to ensure medicines and other health products meet safety, quality and efficacy standards.
He said the Pharmacy and Poisons Board was making progress towards World Health Organisation Maturity Level 3 status while embracing digital systems to strengthen regulation.
The Cabinet Secretary said Kenya had also rolled out the National Track and Trace System this year to improve security across the pharmaceutical supply chain.
“This demonstrates that regulation can be smarter, faster and increasingly digitally driven,” he said.
Duale said Kenya’s efforts would have greater impact if African countries strengthened regulatory cooperation through harmonised standards and shared systems.
He pointed to the African Medicines Agency (AMA) as an important platform for reducing duplication among national regulatory authorities, improving efficiency and ensuring quality-assured products reach patients faster across borders.
“At the centre of everything we do stands the patient,” Duale said, calling for regulatory discussions to translate into better access to quality health products and improved health outcomes.
He said regulatory systems should be efficient, predictable and responsive while maintaining high standards of safety, quality and efficacy.
According to Duale, stronger regulation would also help create an environment in which responsible manufacturers can invest with confidence, innovators can introduce new technologies and regulators can protect public health without creating unnecessary barriers to access.
He further called for stronger African markets for locally manufactured health products, saying predictable markets were necessary to make local manufacturing sustainable.
Duale urged governments, regulators, procurement institutions, manufacturers and development partners to work together through regulatory reliance, harmonised standards, coordinated procurement and regional market access.
“If we can align our regulatory and market-shaping efforts, we can create a stronger business case for investment while improving the availability and affordability of quality health products for our people,” he said.
The Cabinet Secretary said Africa’s pharmaceutical future would depend on partnerships between countries, regulators and manufacturers.
The sixth AfriSummit has brought together more than 450 senior leaders from over 16 national regulatory authorities, notified bodies, regional organisations, development partners and industry players.
Duale said Kenya was committed to advancing regulatory excellence, expanding local manufacturing and working with other African countries to strengthen access to quality health products.