East African Pharmaceuticals

Despite these constraints, Kenya s pharmaceutical sector is the strongest producer of pharmaceuticals in the East African region, and is... 

A further measure of the strength of Kenya-based pharmaceutical production is its export success, which accelerated from about 2002. Kenyan pharmaceutical producers main export destinations are in the COMESA region the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, which does not include South Africa or Tanzania. However, the Kenyan industry still supplies a tiny fraction of COMESA s medicines market, while provisioning only around a quarter of its own domestic market. There is substantial room for expansion. With supportive government policies, Kenya should be able to exploit effectively the integration of East African and Southern African markets to expand its role as one of the medicines production hubs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Chapter 2 discusses the industrial challenges in depth. 

In spite of the growth in production and exports, the Kenyan pharmaceutical industry has to overcome important challenges in order to consolidate and expand its influence in the East African region. Kenya s pharmaceutical industry is still mainly oriented towards the home market, with an export share of domestic production only ranging between 15 and 20 per cent, at least up to 2010. Furthermore, the Kenyan producers share of their own home market is estimated at around 25% of domestic demand (see also Chapter 8), leaving room for expansion (Wamae and Kariuki Kungu, 2014). 

In 2007, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ethiopia PEC (CPEL) was established by Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd (India) and Aim eta Impex PLC (Ethiopia), owning 57% and 43% of the company, respectively. The market size, including easy access from Ethiopia to other East African countries, motivated the investment. All machines and raw materials were imported from India. CEPE has the capacity to manufacture 390 million tablets, 165 million capsules and 1.44 million litres of liquid per annum. In 2011, CEPE acquired a CMP certificate. ... 

An interesting issue identified by experts in the Kenyan pharmaceutical industry was the issue of the standard of the regulatory bodies themselves. Different countries have different regulatory capacities and capabilities. Highly resource-limited countries do not have the same capacity and capabilities as resource-rich countries. As a result, manufacturers fear that accreditation by one country does not equate to the same level of stringency as accreditation by another. Interviewees reported that some countries in the East African region had few regulatory pharmacists who looked at dossiers and at the same time had to do factory inspections -an impossible task. 

EACRPMPA (2011) East African Community Regional Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan of Action 2012-2016, Amsha, Tanzania EAC Secretariat. Available from http //feapm.com/flleadmin/user upload/documents/EAC Regional Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan of Action.pdf [accessed 3 May 2015],... 

Frost and SuUivan (2010) The Pharmaceutical Industry in Key East African Countries, Report No M57C-52, May. 

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