A key milestone for medicine production in Senegal
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted major inequalities in global access to medicines and vaccines, reinforcing the need for Africa to strengthen its own pharmaceutical production capacity. In response, the African Union set an ambitious goal: by 2040, Africa should manufacture 60% of its vaccines needs locally.
Enabel together with the Team Europe Initiative on Manufacturing and Access to Vaccines, Medicines and Health Technologies in Africa (MAV+) is supporting Senegal in this objective. In December 2024, Senegal successfully achieved Maturity Level 3 in medicine and vaccine regulation.
Strengthening Senegal’s pharmaceutical sector
Maturity Level 3, a medical benchmark assessed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), indicates that a country has internationally recognised well-functioning and stable processes that ensure medicines and vaccines meet high-quality standards. This enhances a country’s ability to develop a safe and effective pharmaceutical production, while boosting local and international investments.
Since 2021, Enabel supports Senegal’s efforts to improve equitable access to quality medicines and vaccines for its population, with a focus on strengthening the healthcare system, through a 4 million euros project funded by Belgium. Amongst key national reforms, Enabel supported the creation of the Senegalese Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (ARP) in 2022.
With the support of the WHO, GIZ, Expertise France and Enabel – to name but a few partners – the ARP was able to further develop regulations and procedures, strengthen the capacities of its staff, and carry out regulatory activities such as inspection, market surveillance, pharmacovigilance.
These efforts are part of a broader commitment by the Team Europe MAV+ initiative: launched in 2021, MAV+ supports the African Union’s ambitions to establish local production of vaccines and health products and strengthen the pharmaceutical ecosystem on the continent. The initiative is primarily funded by the European Union, Belgium, France, Germany and the European Investment Bank, with a budget of 1.9 billion euros.
Through mentoring, internships in Belgium, and technical assistance, Enabel is also promoting a Team Belgium approach in the country, by mobilising the expertise from Quamed (a Belgian NGO contributing to improve access to quality medicines), the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products, and Sciensano.
Aside from the Maturity Level 3 benchmark, European efforts have supported the construction of the MADIBA vaccine production site at the Institut Pasteur of Dakar with a budget of 86.8 million euros, as well as a new yellow fever vaccine production facility with a budget of 7.5 million euros. These achievements position Senegal as a regional hub for vaccine manufacturing, reduce the country’s dependency on imports and improve access to quality health products for its population.
Showing the way forward
More than a technical milestone, achieving Maturity Level 3 represents a new step toward self-sufficiency for the Senegalese healthcare sector. With stronger regulatory systems, medicines and vaccines are more accessible, affordable, and safe. Local production investments are facilitated by an effective and recognised national regulatory authority. The country’s ability to rapidly approve and monitor health products will lead to faster responses to public health needs and better control of medicine costs.
Looking ahead, Senegal aims to maintain its Maturity Level 3 status while progressing towards Maturity Level 4 and consolidate its role as a pharmaceutical leader in the region and beyond. Enabel remains committed to supporting these efforts, ensuring that Senegal’s pharmaceutical sector continues to grow and innovate with a strong local ecosystem for the benefit of the population, including the most vulnerable. This will include support to expertise development though a master’s programme in pharmaceutical regulations and a new master’s programme in biotechnology.
