NVI and Africa CDC convene regional manufacturers and governments to access Pooled Procurement Mechanism across Africa

The National Vaccine Institute (NVI) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) will convene a two-day regional meeting in Accra on November 10 and 11, 2026, bringing together manufacturers, regulators, health and procurement officials, and regional bodies to move the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM) towards the continental market.

In a press statement issued by the NVI, the institute explained that the meeting will focus on the practical arrangements needed to operationalise the APPM. Discussions will include country enrolment, the APPM Supply Catalogue, technical specifications, demand aggregation and forecasting, quality assurance and regulatory requirements, tendering status, and financing and implementation timelines.

The meeting is expected to draw approximately 70 participants, about 40 of them Member State and regional delegates. The APPM, established by Africa CDC pursuant to African Union decisions, aggregates demand across Member States to strengthen purchasing power, improve access to affordable quality-assured products, and create a more predictable market for African manufacturers.

Its first tender, announced in May 2026, covered ten priority reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) medicines across ten Member States and secured an average of 45 per cent savings below Member State benchmarks, with African manufacturers featuring in five of the ten products. The mechanism is central to the African Union’s ambition of meeting 60 per cent of the continent’s health products needs from local production by 2040.

Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Africa CDC on August 21st 2026, to participate in the APPM, advancing the Government’s commitment to prioritise locally produced vaccines and pharmaceuticals and to support Ghanaian manufacturers in accessing regional markets. Participation gives qualified Ghanaian manufacturers a pathway beyond the domestic market of some 33 million people into a continental market of approximately 1.4 billion, and complements Ghana’s work to establish more predictable domestic demand through an Advance Purchase Commitment mechanism and other market-shaping interventions.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, NVI CEO Dr. Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey said the meeting presents exciting opportunities for local and continental manufacturers. “Just a year ago, access to a continental market seemed like a distant dream. Today, not only is Ghana a member of the APPM, a few products are reaching millions in Africa. With this meeting, we expand the opportunity to all pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturers in Ghana and West Africa.

It is an opportunity to scale for impact,” he said. According to the NVI, the overall purpose of the two-day workshop is to support the operationalisation of the APPM across participating Member States by bringing together Africa CDC, national health and procurement authorities, manufacturers and other stakeholders to agree on practical arrangements for enrolment, demand aggregation and implementation.

Specifically, participants will seek to: Build a common understanding of the APPM operational model and clarify the roles and responsibilities of Africa CDC, participating Member States, procuring entities and manufacturers; Agree on practical arrangements for demand aggregation and prioritisation of health products for pooled procurement, including requirements for the APPM Supply Catalogue and demand forecasting; Clarify supplier participation, quality assurance and regulatory requirements, and identify actions needed to strengthen the readiness of African manufacturers to access pooled procurement opportunities; and Agree on procurement, financing and implementation arrangements, including a time-bound roadmap for operationalising the APPM in Ghana and supporting regional market access for priority health products.

The draft agenda sets out plenary presentations from Africa CDC on its strategic vision for pooled procurement and an operational update on country enrolment, onboarding requirements, the Supply Catalogue and tendering status. PharmaVax will present the manufacturer perspective on opportunities, requirements and challenges for African manufacturers participating in pooled procurement.

The Ministry of Health will outline the country’s policy commitment and preparedness, including demand planning and financing considerations, while NVI will present on positioning local vaccine and biological-product manufacturing within pooled procurement — Ghana’s readiness, priorities and proposed pathway for engagement. Three breakout sessions will follow: Country enrolment and readiness — enrolment requirements, national focal points, demand forecasting, product prioritization and data needs; Manufacturer readiness and market access — quality, regulatory and pre-qualification requirements; product pipeline and supply capacity; supplier participation in APPM tenders; and Sustainable procurement and implemen