Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations (ACCSA) organizes various international exhibitions and trade fairs that aim to promote the trade and industrial development of the country. This year it has launched an exhibition in a new sector, pharmaceutical sector. This is a commendable move as it is a timely and burning issue to the country. Ethiopia owns various pharmaceuticals and medical supplies manufacturing companies. Yet, it still has to import a huge sum of produces from abroad to address the local demand.
The Government of Ethiopia considers pharmaceutical manufacturing a priority for its economic growth strategy. Pharmaceutical manufacturing is identified as priority sector in the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II) –Dual benefit of increasing access to medicines and promoting rapid industrialization of the country. Substituting the importation of medical supplies saves foreign currency and enables to supply the local market on affordable price.
Furthermore, in the end it will build the capacity of local companies to export their produces and earn foreign currency. According to Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) domestically, the disease burden, rising healthcare coverage, population and economic growth make Ethiopia an attractive market. The Ethiopian pharmaceutical market is expected to grow at 15% per year to reach nearly $1 billion by 2020. Ethiopia is one of the first African countries to develop national strategy for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The Government will develop state of the art Industrial Parks specialized in pharmaceutical manufacturing. COMESA represents a large export market—with an addressable market size of $6.2 bln while IGAD and EAC are also considerable in market size, EIC further indicates. The government has been working strenuously to boost the development of the manufacturing sector in general. For this end it has been expanding industrial parks in various parts of the country. The industrial parks are mostly of specific specialization or of mixed use.
For example, the industrial park at kilinto is intended to host, among others, pharmaceutical factories. The Kilinto industrial park is a big facility that can help realize the country’s vision of becoming pharmaceuticals hub of Africa. Hence, the endeavor by AACSA to promote pharmaceutical exhibition is a vital contribution towards achieving the country’s farfetched goal of becoming the continents manufacturing hub.
As a first edition, experienced pharmaceutical manufacturers and suppliers have participated in the exhibition. This is an encouraging move that foretells the likely success of the country in boosting its pharmaceutical manufacturing sector there by assisting its overall economy beyond addressing the specific demand for medical and pharmaceutical supplies.
The Ethiopian Herald May 11/2019
