UNIDO Paves Pathways to Successful Technology Transfer and Investment Promotion in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in Africa
Algiers, Algeria, 28 November 2025: The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) advanced high-level regional dialogue on concrete measures to strengthen technology transfer and investment promotion across Africa’s pharmaceutical sector, officially launching its flagship publications titled Advancing Vaccine and Essential Medicine Manufacturing in Africa: Guidelines for Effective Technology Transfer and Business Partnership and Unlocking Vaccines and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Potentials in Africa: Guidelines for Effective Investment Promotion, Innovative Finance, and Regulatory Frameworks , which provide step-by-step guidance and actionable frameworks to support countries in implementing relevant endeavors.
The event, titled "Strengthening Technology Transfer and Investment Promotion for Sustainable Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in Africa," was held alongside the Ministerial Conference on Local Production of Medicines and Other Health Technologies in Africa, contributing to its objective of developing operational strategies and innovative solutions in local pharmaceutical production in Africa.
The discussion brought together five distinguished speakers: Mr. Alejandro RIVERA ROJAS (UNIDO), Dr. Skhumbuzo NGOZWANA (Federation of African Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (FAPMA)/UNIDO), Mrs. Naana YAWSON (National Vaccine Institute of Ghana), Mr. Frank MOUNEMEH (Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria), and Dr. Amina GUELLOUR (Biopharm Algeria).
“Despite strong political will, Africa’s pharmaceutical landscape still faces structural barriers—limited technology transfer, fragmented investment, and insufficient dissemination of proven models. To move from ambition to reality, we must work more closely with companies across Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal and beyond, sharing best practices, licensing approaches, and innovative business models that truly attract investment and financing.” said Mr. Rivera Rojas.
Panelists emphasized the role of international technical cooperation in bridging the persistent gaps in technology transfer and investment promotion in Africa's pharmaceutical industry, especially through UNIDO's comparative advantages in building partnerships between African and European manufacturers, providing industry needs assessment and pertinent technical assistance, supporting facility upgrades and quality assurance through Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) roadmaps, and helping to design bankable pharmaceutical projects through facilitating public-private partnerships and blended finance models.
“Technology transfer is most impactful when it brings not only dossiers or equipment, but competence, technical confidence, and a shared long-term vision. The most successful models have been end-to-end transfers with on-site support, co-development that builds lasting know-how, and long-term partnerships focused on capacity building and GMP excellence,” said Dr. Guellour.
In addition, Mr. Rivera Rojas delivered an intervention at the conference’s plenary session-- ”Innovating and Transferring Technology for Local Production"--reaffirming UNIDO's commitment to advancing local production through partnerships and capacity building for a stronger ecosystem and resilient pharmaceutical value chain. Reaffirming UNIDO’s multifaceted support to pharmaceutical production in Africa, Dr. Amer Bouabidi, UNIDO's International Expert in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Prof Borut Strukelj, UNIDO’s Senior Expert on Health Industry, and Dr. Rowan Ahmed, UNIDO’s Project Coordinator, also contributed to panels on biosimilars and API manufacturing, where UNIDO's publication on Lean Local API Manufacturing was disseminated.
UNIDO was also invited on AL24, an Algerian public international news channel, for interviews. Dr. Bouabidi shared insights on UNIDO's experiences in driving innovation and technological advancement to promote pharmaceutical production in Africa at his interview on AL24. Prof. Strukelj and Dr. Ahmed discussed how UNIDO's technical cooperation initiatives can support small medium-sized manufacturers to scale up from pilot to sustainable production with cutting-edge knowledge and tools.
For more information please contact:
Alejandro Rivera Rojas, TCS/SME Division chief at a.rivera-rojas [at] unido.org
Rowan Ahmed, TCS/SME/MDJ project coordinator at r.ahmed [at] unido.org
