Algeria at the Heart of Africa’s Pharmaceutical Drive: Algiers Conference Lays the Foundations of Continental Health Sovereignty
✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada
Algiers – November 2025 – Under the high patronage of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Algeria has positioned itself this week as the operational epicentre of a continental project that reframes pharmaceutical production as a matter of strategic sovereignty. The African Ministerial Conference on Local Production of Medicines and Other Health Technologies, held in Algiers from 27 to 29 November, convened ministers, industry leaders, technical partners and experts to convert rhetoric about self-reliance into an actionable roadmap—one set to be formalised in the much-anticipated “Algiers Declaration.”
Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb presided over the official opening, which gathered senior state officials, members of government and delegations from more than fifteen African countries, alongside representatives of the World Health Organization and other international partners. The ceremony and the calibre of attendance signalled that this meeting was conceived not as a symbolic gesture, but as a consequential summit aimed at aligning political will, industrial capacity and regulatory reform across the continent.
At the centre of the conference’s political thrust was Health Minister Mohamed Seddik Ait Messaoudene’s insistence that pharmaceutical sovereignty is attainable and urgent. Speaking to a packed hall of ministers and industry delegates, he argued that Africa already has the human capital, scientific expertise and market potential to become a global pharmaceutical pole—but that realising this potential requires “close coordination” between states, strengthened regional cooperation mechanisms, and the creation of production centres designed at continental scale. His message reframed local manufacture from an industrial option into a strategic pillar for health security, economic development and social stability.
Practical, technical work dominated the second day of the conference. Sessions addressed innovation and technology transfer, the acceleration of active pharmaceutical ingredient development at continental scale, improving pandemic response and forecasting demand, and the harmonisation of regulatory frameworks. These thematic streams were deliberately chosen: together they map the necessary architecture for a resilient African pharmaceutical ecosystem—one in which production capacity, regulatory convergence and supply-chain predictability reduce vulnerability to external shocks. The summit’s proceedings are scheduled to culminate with ministers adopting the “Algiers Declaration,” a compact of recommendations intended to operationalise cooperation and commit signatories to concrete reforms.
The World Health Organization lent the gathering a powerful endorsement. In a recorded message, the WHO Director-General praised Algeria’s achievements—highlighting that Algeria produces a large proportion of its pharmaceutical needs locally—and encouraged other nations to study the Algerian model as a practical example of how national industry can be scaled to meet regional demand. That endorsement underscores the conference’s dual character: technical and political, domestic and continental.
Concrete policy prescriptions emerged from the debates. Delegates pressed for a modern, coherent regulatory framework aligned with international norms; accelerated regulatory harmonisation to ease cross-border trade in medicines; simplified and transparent product registration procedures; and the strengthening of national medicines agencies through capacity building. Industry actors and ministers alike emphasised quality assurance as non-negotiable, while calling for research-driven industrial partnerships, biotechnology investment, digital health technologies and public–private mechanisms that can anchor specialised pharmaceutical zones and attract responsible capital. Human capital development—technical training, regulatory science and research capability—was repeatedly identified as the bedrock of any sustainable industrial policy.
Beyond policy lists, the conference signalled a strategic shift: a transition from episodic, donor-driven projects to a collective continental enterprise that sees local production as a shared asset. Delegations explored pooling mechanisms, regional manufacturing hubs and procurement coordination that would allow smaller economies to benefit from scale while preserving national strategic interests. If translated into binding cooperation, such measures would diminish Africa’s exposure to supply disruptions, reduce the prevalence of falsified medicines, and create local value chains that deliver jobs and technological spillovers.
Algeria’s role as convener is significant. By hosting this ministerial forum and championing the “Algiers Declaration,” the country is not merely signalling solidarity: it is offering a template of policy, regulatory practice and industrial capacity that other African states can adapt. For participants, the immediate task is translating conference commitments into national roadmaps: regulatory reform timetables, investment incentives for specialised zones, targeted skills programmes and pooled procurement arrangements that support fledgling manufacturers.
The summit closed with a clear policy imperative: for Africa, pharmaceutical sovereignty is no longer optional. The alternative—continued dependence on distant suppliers and exposure to geopolitical supply shocks—has been laid bare by recent global crises. Algeria’s conference has set in motion a concrete process of continental coordination. The Algiers Declaration, once adopted, will be the political instrument by which ministers pledge to move from fragmented ambition to collective implementation—building an African pharmaceutical industry that is integrated, quality-driven and capable of responding to the continent’s public-health needs.
Adapted from:
https://www.horizons.dz/?p=395237
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