The West Africa sub-region makes up almost a third of the whole of Africa and has a strong presence of pharmaceutical manufacturers, with currently over 200 active manufacturers of pharmaceuticals. According to PMG-MAN, Nigeria is responsible for about 60 per cent of medicines produced in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a sub-regional group of fifteen countries (See Table below), which has an estimated population of 300 million and a market size of US$ 3.5 billion for health products.
*PMG-MAN is the umbrella organization for drug manufacturers in Nigeria
According to IMS Health, the pharmaceutical market in West Africa has been growing at between 5% - 7% annually and is expected to rise steadily in the next few years.
ECOWAS Countries
| Country | Number of Manufacturers | Remarks | Population | GNI per capita (Atlas method) | Health expenditure per capita in current $ | Public sector share of total expenditure (%) | Private sector share of total expenditure (%) | Out -of-pocket expenditure (% of private expenditure) |
| Benin | 1 | Francophone | 8.9 million | US$700 | 31.9 | 51.8 | 48.2 | 94.9 |
| Burkina Faso | 0 | Francophone | 15.8 million | US$480 | 29.3 | 56.1 | 43.9 | 91.3 |
| Cape Verde | 1 | Lusophone | 5 million | US$2,380 | 132.3 | 74.6 | 25.4 | 99.7 |
| Cote d’Ivoire | 2 | Francophone | 21.1 million | US$980 | 40.7 | 24.0 | 76.0 | 88.7 |
| Gambia | 0 | Anglophone | 1.7 million | US$400 | 21.9 | 47.9 | 52.1 | 48.4 |
| Ghana | 36 | Anglophone | 23.8 million | US$1,150 | 54.1 | 51.6 | 48.4 | 79.3 |
| Guinea | 1 | Francophone | 10.1 million | US$340 | 25.6 | 11.0 | 89.0 | 99.5 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 0 | Lusophone | 1.6 million | US$460 | 15.5 | 25.9 | 74.1 | 55.7 |
| Liberia | 0 | Anglophone | 4.0 million | US$170 | 21.5 | 26.2 | 73.8 | 52.2 |
| Mali | 1 | Francophone | 13.0 million | US$610 | 34.3 | 51.4 | 48.6 | 99.5 |
| Niger | 0 | Francophone | 15.3 million | US$330 | 16.4 | 52.8 | 47.2 | 96.4 |
| Nigeria | 120 | Anglophone | 154.7 million | US$1,170 | 74.2 | 25.3 | 74.7 | 95.9 |
| Senegal | 2 | Anglophone | 12.5 million | US$980 | 54.2 | 56.0 | 44.0 | 78.5 |
| Sierra Leone | 0 | Anglophone | 5.7 million | US$320 | 13.5 | 31.3 | 68.7 | 58.8 |
| Togo | 2 | Francophone | 6.6 million | US$410 | 32.9 | 24.9 | 75.1 | 84.2 |
Source: United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) (2011), Healthy Partnerships, How Governments Can Engage the Private Sector to Improve Health in Africa
12 years ago
