Many an article has been written about the chicken and the egg! Which really did come first? In West Africa the pharmaceutical market is fragmented with multiple issues not just pertaining to quality of medication but also market access, regulation, financing, currency, contracts and human resource requirements, amongst several issues that have been highlighted by the various ECOWAS and AU reports on the pharmaceutical industry.
A few weeks ago, in Abuja the USTDA convened a fantastic workshop on the convergence of pharmaceutical regulations. For those of you not aware, the pharmaceutical industry is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the world due to the attendant risks that medications can carry for people. The USTDA together with the Corporate Council on Africa brought together national regulators, manufacturers, NGOs and other stakeholders to deliberate on regulatory convergence in West Africa.
For some of us it was extremely welcome to hear from the Nigerian, Ghanian, Ivorian and Senegalese national medicines regulatory authorities about the steps that had been taken to ensure convergence, it was clear that a lot had been done, however there is still a lot to do.
The elephant in the room was clear and present and some people touched on it. Regulatory convergence without a single West African market was half the battle won. Some would argue that without a working framework for a single market across West Africa regulatory convergence would be stillborn. The ability for West African manufacturers to be able to sell their produced in West Africa products across West Africa with reduced or removed trade barriers would dramatically improve the access to quality medicines for West Africans. This single change would improve the economics of doing business in West Africa and help local manufacturing to flourish. The ECOWAS customs union and external common tariff is a start and a push in the right direction and needs to be supported by the member states to allow a boost in intra West African trade.
At Quintex Pharma we are thrilled to be part of these discussions and excited by the approach the various national regulatory authorities have taken to harmonise regulatory requirements. We look forward to a future where trade across West Africa and indeed the whole of Africa is seamless.