Hard battle between Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Each of the three Maghreb countries is keen at all costs to host the permanent headquarters of the future African Medicines Agency (AMA), a new organ of the African Union (AU). Huge stakes.
The question of the allocation of the permanent seat of the African Medicines Agency should be decided at the next summit of the African Union which will take place by the beginning of next year. In the meantime, the future location of WADA’s headquarters is the subject of covetousness. The game is worth the candle. A joint project of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the AU, the AMA whose idea dates back to 2009, was finally created in November 2021. Set up according to the model of the European Agency for Medicines (EMA), this instrument will be in charge of harmonization and alignment of regulations across the continent, which should facilitate the procedures for the export of pharmaceutical products.
At the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, without an agency, Africa did not have a strike force to negotiate the joint purchase of vaccines by putting on the table the specific needs of African countries so that no one is left on the tile. The AU had to manage vaccine purchases directly, particularly within the framework of the Covax initiative. And even then, how and for what quantity?
AMA is therefore good news for the 1.216 billion Africans for whom health expenditure sometimes represents up to 60% of income and who have difficulty in accessing quality medicines, according to the World Bank. But it is also a boon for drug manufacturers who can see it as an opportunity to grow their income.
The African continent represents no less than 3% of the global pharmaceutical market, with only about 400 drug manufacturers listed, mainly in South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia. These four countries account for more than 70% of production. Figures that these States can rely on to assert their legitimacy to host the AMA are supposed to ensure continental pharmaceutical autonomy. It must be said that African countries are now forced to import more than 80% of their drug needs. But for the countries vying to host the permanent headquarters of the future African Medicines Agency, in addition to the prestige side, this would undoubtedly give a serious boost to their health diplomacy.
For Morocco, this new body of the African Union is above all an opportunity to establish itself in a buoyant market. Its pharmaceutical industry achieved a turnover of 16 billion DH in 2019 for a volume in terms of units of more than 400 million. It exports between 11 and 12% of its local production.
The first to express its interest in hosting the headquarters of the Agency, Morocco, through its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, took the opportunity to present the progress report on the ratification of the treaty establishing the WADA, during the 40th ordinary session of the Executive Council of the African Union, held on February 3 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to indicate that the Kingdom, “is willing to host the headquarters of WADA and to develop South-South partnership projects with Africa CDC (Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)”.
Combining the deed to the word, Morocco ratifies on April 5, 2022, at the headquarters of the AU in Addis Ababa, the treaty establishing the WADA. “As a member of the African Union and a regional leader in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in terms of infrastructure, technology and experience acquired over the years, Morocco remains very attached to the high quality of medicines and is aware that the health and safety of African citizens depend on quality medicinal products and effective drugs,” commented Mohamed Arrouchi, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the African Union and the UNECA.
It should be noted that already on June 2, 2021, the former Prime Head of the Moroccan government, Saadeddine El Otmani, had received in Rabat, Michel Sidibé, the African Union Special Envoy for the African Medicines Agency, in the process of ratification by AU Member States of the treaty establishing WADA. El Otmani reiterated Morocco’s permanent disposition to engage and support African development initiatives, including the initiative to create the AMA, in accordance with the African policy pursued by the Kingdom under the enlightened leadership of the Sovereign.
For his part, the Algerian Prime Minister, Aïmene Benabderrahmane, who received, on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, the AU Special Envoy for WADA, had also not failed to make known his country’s desire to host the continental agency, almost two months after the announcement of the Moroccan candidacy. Since then, Algeria has officially submitted its proposal to host the headquarters. In his argument for the AU special envoy, the Algerian Minister of Pharmaceutical Industry, Abderrahmane Djamel Lotfi Benbahmed, detailed “all the institutional, scientific and regulatory resources from which Algeria benefits, in particular, the existence of a National Pharmaceutical Products Agency through the missions assigned to it,
Tunisia is no exception. Two weeks after the visit of the Agency’s delegation to Algeria, on April 12, it went to Tunis to assess the country’s readiness to host WADA’s headquarters. Kas Saïd, the Tunisian President, spoke for his country: “From human resources to logistics, Tunisia has all the assets to host the African Medicines Agency (AMA)”.
Tunisia immediately submitted its application to the African Union Commission (AU) to host the headquarters of the African Medicines Agency (AMA). The file was presented by the Minister of Health, Ali Maret, who had also received the AU delegation.
The Maghreb countries are not alone in the running. Senegal and Uganda are also in the running and want to host the headquarters of the long-awaited African Medicines Agency. For the time being, all the applicants are trying to rally as much support as possible. On May 12, for example, talks took place in Rabat between the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Khaled Ait Taleb, and his Congolese counterpart, Gilbert Mokoki. And on this occasion, the Congolese minister announced the unwavering support for the Kingdom to host the headquarters of this specialized agency of the African Union.
In the meantime, an evaluation report will be presented before the first meeting of the Conference of States Parties, scheduled for next June. The decision taken by this body will then be submitted to the AU Assembly. Officially, the agreement for the establishment of WADA entered into force on November 5, 2021, following its ratification by around thirty members of the African Union.
