ABSTRACT
Background and Aim
Africa imports over 70% of its medicines and 90% of its vaccines. This situation makes the citizens vulnerable to medicine shortages and increased risk of substandard and counterfeit drugs. This article provides insights into the significance of African youth in tackling key challenges affecting local pharma industry.
Methods
A literature review was conducted throughout September 2024 by retrieving articles from Google Scholar. Articles relevant to the aim of the study were snowballed, reviewed, analyzed, and considered during the preparation of this article.
Results
African youth possess fresh energy, minds, and innovative skills, which are indispensable for the development of local pharmaceutical sector. They are capable of utilizing artificial intelligence, which can advance critical processes in the African pharma industry including research and development (R&D) as well as quality assurance. Nevertheless, inadequate access to education, training, and mentorship opportunities hinder their involvement.
Conclusion
Established partnerships among local and international pharma industries, African universities, and other relevant stakeholders are essential to meaningful involvement of youth in the local pharma sector.
Keywords: Africa, artificial intelligence, capacity building, local pharmaceutical manufacturing, youth
Abbreviations
- AI
artificial intelligence
- API
active pharmaceutical ingredient
- QA
quality assurance
- QC
quality control
- R&D
research and development
1. Introduction
The dependency of Africa on foreign pharmaceutical companies leaves its citizens vulnerable to shortages of medicines. With over 70% of its essential medicines being imported [1], the situation denies citizens access to adequate medicines because of affordability constraints. Even though some African countries such as Rwanda and Gabon have made significant progress in terms of universal health coverage [2], some pharmaceutical products, including prescription drugs, are still too expensive to cover. Coupled with already weak regulatory systems, these issues put the citizens at a high risk of substandard and counterfeit drugs [3]. Additionally, it increases the burden of infectious and non‐communicable diseases, including cancers, and makes the continent susceptible to developmental disruptions caused pandemics, as seen during the COVID‐19 period. It is high time that African continent capitalizes on its intrinsic potential and change the narrative. Indeed, African pharmaceutical sector needs youth's potential to revolutionize manufacturing and supply of safe, effective, and affordable pharmaceutical products.
2. The Potential of African Youth
Over 65% of Africa's population comprises young people who possess fresh minds and perspectives, capable of leveraging technology for local pharmaceutical manufacturing needs [4]. They can explore and utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, which could be significant in different manufacturing departments such as research and development (R&D), quality control (QC), and quality assurance (QA). This can accelerate the R&D process, which mostly take up to 10 years to complete, and enable the production of sufficient pharmaceutical products within a short duration [5]. Moreover, these skills can optimize the extraction and identification of critical local medicinal plants, facilitate quality control through visual inspection of particulate matter, and ensure the production of safe and effective medicines from indigenous plants.
African youth are also innovative and conversant with social media, which is indispensable for local pharmaceutical industries. Research shows that local pharmaceutical manufacturing is struggling with securing adequate investment for scale‐up and a lack of infrastructure [6]. With youth's social media skills, they can create innovative and captivating content for digital tools such as graphics, videos, and articles which can facilitate policy engagement and advocacy regarding the investment. This could facilitate pharma industries in securing substantial funding to sustain daily operations and developkey contemporary infrastructure such as roads. Additionally, this holds great potential in encouraging regulatory reforms, improved targeted economic policies, and comprehensive planning. It could involve government agencies and international stakeholders in prioritizing the provision of incentives, such tax exemptions or subsidies on sourcing raw materials and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for local pharmaceutical manufacturing. Moreover, it might lead to the provision of free manufacturing land leases by the governments and stakeholders.
Besides, African youth can play a significant role in addressing regulatory and supply chain challenges in the pharmaceutical sector. In Africa, over 90% of national regulatory bodies are unable to perform essential medicines regulations, and face high staff turnover and shortages due to heavy workload [7]. This in turn affects the supply chains, contributing to the increased risk of substandard and counterfeit drugs on the continent. By leveraging their fresh energy and flexibility, African youth can offer support in these critical areas through volunteerism and internships. As a result, these opportunities can provide hands‐on experience to the youth for potential future industry placements while reducing the workload in national regulatory processes.
3. Limitations to Youth's Participation in African Pharma Industry
Despite the potential of youth, factors such as inadequate access to education, training, and mentorship opportunities hinder their involvement in local pharmaceutical manufacturing. Youth in Africa lack substantial knowledge, skills, and adequate mentorship, especially in conducting impactful research, due to under‐resourced universities and institutions [8]. This limits the number of competent and professionally trained youths involved in regulatory affairs and critical pharmaceutical manufacturing departments such as product research and development. Universities and institutions in Africa can enhance the competency of young people in the pharmaceutical sector by providing them with effective funding and mentorship for research involvement as well as access to modern technology. Besides, there are limited early career programs provided by local pharmaceutical manufacturing companies. As a result, youth have limited industrial development opportunities and post‐graduate industrial training placements, which diminishes their interest in pursuing an industrial pharmacy career [9]. There should be organized routine industrial visits and more post‐undergraduate training programs in local pharmaceutical industries and regulatory authorities to nurture more youth in this area.
4. Conclusion and Recommendations
African youth possess fresh energy, minds, and innovative skills, which are indispensable for the local pharmaceutical sector. They can utilize AI and machine learning to significantly improve critical processes such as R&D, QC, and QA. Additionally, the industry advancements in raising awareness and engaging relevant authorities, all of which could result from youth's social media expertise should never be overlooked. Nevertheless, such initiatives require sustained effort, long‐term investment, and support from diverse stakeholders to address challenges in local pharmaceutical manufacturing, supply chain, and regulatory affairs. African pharma industry, in collaboration with governments, universities, and other stakeholders, should prioritize pharma‐related routine industrial visits and early‐career programs. There is an urgent need for effective policies that enable capacity‐building programs for youth. Established partnerships between local and international pharma industries, as well as African universities, are essential for realizing routine industry visits. It will also provide career development opportunities, such as internships and mentorship, and assure postgraduation industry placements for youth in the pharma sector. This collective approach promises to be among sustainable ways to reduce the burden of infectious and non‐communicable diseases that hinder Africa's development.
Author Contributions
Samuel Inshutiyimana: conceptualization, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing.
Ethics Statement
The author has nothing to report.
Conflicts of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest.
Transparency Statement
The lead author Samuel Inshutiyimana affirms that this manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported; that no important aspects of the study have been omitted; and that any discrepancies from the study as planned (and, if relevant, registered) have been explained.
Acknowledgments
The editor's feedback is highly appreciated.
Data Availability Statement
The author confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.
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Associated Data
This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.
Data Availability Statement
The author confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.