Exports Kenyan pharmaceuticals

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. 

As Chapter 1 briefly outlined, Kenya has a strong and long-standing pharmaceutical industry. A 2015 Business Monitor report on pharmaceutical manufacturing in Kenya states that the country hosts the largest pharmaceutical industrial base in East Africa. The report also sees a bright future as a potential base for export across East Africa (BMI Research, 2015). This chapter locates the Kenyan pharmaceutical industry within the country s historical context of industrial development and growth. 

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). 

The great majority of Kenyan s pharmaceutical exports are destined to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). COMESA is the main export destination for Kenya s pharmaceutical exports, with Kenya supplying about 50 per cent of the region s production. In relative terms, however, this translates into a minute share of the COMESA market. 

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