Accra: Ghana has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to join the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM), opening a continental market for local vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturers.
According to Ghana News Agency, the agreement was signed on August 21, 2026, in Accra, and it implements President John Dramani Mahama's directive to prioritize locally produced vaccines and pharmaceuticals in public procurement, thereby securing regional market access for Ghanaian producers. The MoU was signed by the Government and Africa CDC, with Mr. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Minister of Health, representing Ghana alongside Dr. Jean Kaseya, the Director-General of Africa CDC.
Mr. Akandoh emphasized that Ghana's participation in the APPM fulfills a commitment made by President Mahama at the Ghana Vaccines Manufacturing Investment Forum in Accra in August 2025. He stated that the President had directed reforms to ensure locally produced vaccines and pharmaceuticals are prioritized in public procurement, while also pledging support for Ghanaian producers to access regional markets through the APPM.
Mr. Akandoh added that Ghana's participation would be complemented by ongoing efforts to establish an Advance Purchase Commitment system to de-risk investments in local pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing.
Dr. Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Vaccine Institute (NVI), explained that the APPM was established under African Union Assembly Decisions urging Member States to join the continental pooled procurement mechanism. He highlighted that the mechanism would provide Ghanaian pharmaceutical manufacturers, including emerging companies under the planned Ghana Pharmaceutical Hub, with a structured pathway to supply quality-assured health products, vaccines, and medical equipment to African markets.
Dr. Sodzi-Tettey noted that the arrangement would help address the limitations of Ghana's relatively small domestic market by creating more predictable demand and improving the prospects for sustainable investment in local manufacturing. He also mentioned that the APPM would strengthen health security by improving access to affordable and quality-assured health products while enhancing collective purchasing power and intra-African trade.
The CEO assured that Ghana's regulatory authority would remain intact, with all procurement under the APPM subject to the regulatory oversight of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) for marketing authorization, import control, batch release, and post-market surveillance. He pointed out that the FDA's status as a World Health Organisation (WHO) Maturity Level Three regulator for medicines provided assurance that products supplied through the mechanism would meet appropriate quality and safety standards.
Dr. Sodzi-Tettey described the agreement as a defining moment for Ghana and the Institute, stating that it would expand the market available to local manufacturers from about 33 million people to more than 1.4 billion Africans. He stated that the arrangement would support Ghana's ambition to become a regional hub for vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturing, noting that locally produced products such as Tetanus Diphtheria vaccines, Anti-tetanus Serum, and Snake Venom anti-Serum could now be positioned for a wider continental market.
He confirmed that the NVI was committed to working with Africa CDC to ensure that Ghana's participation translated into practical opportunities for local manufacturers and contributed to pharmaceutical manufacturing sovereignty on the continent. He mentioned that the next phase would involve the joint operationalization of Ghana's participation during the Regional Meeting on the APPM scheduled to be hosted in Accra in November 2026, bringing together policymakers, regulators, manufacturers, and procurement agencies to agree on the supply catalogue, technical specifications, and implementation arrangements.
The NVI, established under the National Vaccine Institute Act, 2023 (Act 1056), is mandated to coordinate, supervise, and facilitate local manufacturing of vaccines and sera in Ghana.