From framework to factory floor: advancing health industry development
Vienna, Austria, 19 January 2026 – In 2023, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) launched its Health Industry Framework with a clear ambition: to move beyond policy discussion and enable countries to build resilient pharmaceutical and biomanufacturing ecosystems. Three years later, that ambition is translating into concrete industrial action on the ground.
Between 2023 and 2025, implementation of UNIDO’s Health Industry Framework has moved from strategy to scale. Pharmaceutical ecosystem assessments were completed in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya, alongside more than 100 GMP baseline assessments conducted across Africa, supporting the development of national and regional GMP roadmaps for all ECOWAS Member States. In Senegal, where 95 percent of medicines are currently imported, national efforts aim to increase local production to 50 percent with UNIDO’s technical support. At the same time, engagement is expanding beyond Africa, with growing demand from countries in Eurasia and the Middle East.
Turning diagnostics into decisions
UNIDO has completed in depth pharmaceutical ecosystem assessments in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya. Supported by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through BMZ, these diagnostics go beyond high-level analysis. They identify concrete constraints across manufacturing capacity, regulation, investment and workforce skills.
The findings directly informed UNIDO’s newly developed guideline packages on technology transfer and business partnerships and on investment promotion, innovative finance and regulatory frameworks for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Designed for immediate application, the guidelines translate evidence into clear implementation pathways for governments, regulators and manufacturers.
In parallel, UNIDO introduced Lean Local API Manufacturing, a practical model for producing active pharmaceutical ingredients locally, aimed at reducing import dependency and exposure to global supply disruptions.
Pharmaceuticals as a future industry
UNIDO’s Industrial Development Report 2026 identifies pharmaceuticals and health industries as priority future oriented sectors across Africa, Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. The report positions health industry development as a central driver of green, digital and innovation driven industrial transformation, reinforcing the strategic relevance of building domestic production capacity.
Senegal shows what implementation looks like
In Senegal, UNIDO’s engagement illustrates the shift from assessment to execution. With support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit through GIZ, UNIDO works closely with the Institut Pasteur de Dakar to strengthen national biomanufacturing capacity.
Partnerships with industry leaders such as Sartorius have enabled the deployment of virtual reality based bioprocessing training, accelerating workforce readiness and operational learning.
At factory level, UNIDO supports manufacturers through corrective and preventive action diagnostics, quality system strengthening and structured roadmaps toward international standards, including progression toward World Health Organization prequalification. Support also extends to new greenfield facilities, embedding good manufacturing practices from the design phase onward.
Alejandro Rivera Rojas, Division Chief, Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Manufacturing, UNIDO: “What distinguishes this phase of UNIDO’s engagement is the shift from assessments to hands on implementation. We are working directly with manufacturers, regulators and training institutions to close concrete gaps in quality systems, workforce skills and technology transfer readiness. This is where industrial transformation happens.”
From the national industry perspective, the value of this support is clear.
Aziz Cissé, Director, Senegalese Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry: “Senegal currently imports 95 percent of its medicines and health products. To reverse this dependency, the Government together with the private sector has launched an ambitious plan to produce half of national needs locally. Achieving this goal requires strong technical and financial partnerships. UNIDO’s specialized training, quality support and industrial audits are essential to making this strategy work.”
Expanding partnerships and demand
Beyond Africa, cooperation has expanded with the United Arab Emirates through the establishment of a Health Industry Readiness Centre focused on industrial preparedness, regulatory alignment and technology transfer readiness. The partnership supports knowledge exchange in advanced manufacturing, API production and vaccine technologies, with planned expansion into genomics.
Interest in UNIDO’s health industry approach is also growing across Eurasia, including Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, where governments have requested joint strategy development and technical guidance.
Built on long standing technical foundations
UNIDO’s current health industry portfolio builds on more than two decades of technical cooperation in pharmaceutical manufacturing across Africa and Asia. Over this period, UNIDO has supported countries in developing GMP roadmaps, strengthening regulatory systems, formulating pharmaceutical sector strategies and upgrading industrial capabilities.
To date, UNIDO has conducted more than one hundred GMP baseline assessments across Africa, forming the backbone of national and regional GMP roadmaps. In partnership with the West African Health Organization, UNIDO developed a regional GMP roadmap framework for the ECOWAS region, complemented by country specific roadmaps for all ECOWAS Member States. These roadmaps apply a risk based, stepwise approach to guide manufacturers toward compliance with international goods manufacturing practices.
This long-standing engagement is fully aligned with the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa, supporting countries to link quality assurance, industrial upgrading and sustainable local production. Over time, UNIDO’s interventions have strengthened regulatory alignment, compliance capacity and technology transfer readiness by improving quality systems, production processes and workforce competencies, enabling many countries to progress toward more resilient pharmaceutical ecosystems.
What comes next
From 2026 onward, UNIDO will expand implementation under the Health Industry Framework through new activities in Ghana under the European Union Global Gateway initiative, including the design of a regional biomanufacturing training centre aligned with African Union and Africa CDC priorities.
Regional integration and scale up of local pharmaceutical production will be further reinforced through the Africa Competitiveness and Market Access Programme (ATCMA), funded by the European Union with EUR 200 million under the Global Gateway. Within ATCMA, the pharmaceutical value chain is identified as a priority sector across multiple regions, creating opportunities to strengthen quality systems, regional supply chains and market access for African manufacturers.
Additional efforts will focus on regulatory preparedness, workforce development and quality investment facilitation through the application of UNIDO’s newly developed guidelines. At the same time, UNIDO is advancing joint action with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to address falsified and substandard medicines by strengthening regulatory oversight, supply chain integrity and product traceability mechanisms.
In parallel, UNIDO is preparing to act as an implementing partner of the World Bank Pandemic Fund, with proposed interventions focused on regional manufacturing capacity, supply chain resilience and workforce readiness for future health emergencies.
From framework to factory floor, UNIDO’s health industry work is entering a phase defined by delivery, scale and long-term industrial impact.
For more information, please contact: Alejandro Rivera-Rojas, a.rivera-rojas [at] unido.org
