China is advancing its “health silk road” in Africa by initiating major offshore projects to manufacture essential medicines, such as insulin and antiretrovirals.
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Nigeria is set to produce Chinese-made insulin, while in the Ivory Coast further west, Chinese giant Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical is on track to complete the first part of its three-phase €50 million (US$58 million) facility by the end of the year. The facility near Abidjan, the country’s biggest city, will manufacture antimalarial and antibacterial drugs.
Chinese firms are stepping in to fill Africa’s medicine manufacturing gaps, driven by high demand for generic medications and chronic illness treatments.
Africa, home to about 18 per cent of the global population, bears a quarter of the world’s disease burden and imports nearly all its vaccines and 70 per cent of its essential medicines, according to global health agencies.
Beijing’s ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, announced late last month that Chinese companies planned to build an insulin production plant in the country.
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