(Business in Cameroon) – Cameroon’s pharmaceutical industry remains largely underused, even though the country has about fifteen production units. Local manufacturers capture only 5 % of the national market for medicines and medical supplies, while imports supply 95 % of demand. Pharmaceutical purchases abroad climbed from CFA69.5 billion in 2010 to CFA170 billion in 2024, adding pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves, the Competitiveness Committee notes.
This dependence on imports is tied to several constraints: production costs that manufacturers consider too high, insufficient or outdated equipment, and competition from products entering through informal and illicit channels. Local manufacturers also point to what they describe as “suffocating” taxation, which reduces their price competitiveness against imported pharmaceuticals.
As a result, despite about CFA50 billion invested, local plants operate at roughly 20 % of their capacity and share only about CFA8 billion on a market valued between CFA125 billion and CFA200 billion, according to the Association of Pharmaceutical Industries. The gap between market size and the share held by national producers highlights a largely untapped industrial potential.
Counterfeiting and smuggling: CFA33 billion in losses
Alongside formal import flows, rising smuggling and counterfeiting increase pressure on local actors. Between 2020 and 2024, more than CFA8.6 billion in counterfeit medicines were seized in Cameroon, according to the Ministry of Public Health. Dozens of illicit networks have been dismantled, and border and digital platform surveillance has been strengthened.
Public Health Minister Manaouda Malachie regularly urges the National Order of Pharmacists to take “strong and visible action to protect public trust in medicine,” calling on every actor to help safeguard health security. The phenomenon now extends well beyond economic concerns to become a major public health issue.
The health consequences are severe. According to 2023 data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), falsified or substandard medicines cause about 500,000 deaths per year in sub-Saharan Africa. In Cameroon, counterfeiting has become structural: the website Lurgentiste.com reports that the informal sector controls a significant share of the market, with 20 to 25 % of medicines in circulation considered counterfeit.
Public procurement at the center of demands
Facing this dual competition—from formal imports and illicit products—the Association of Pharmaceutical Industries is calling for greater integration of local producers into public procurement. “This approach could be implemented by restructuring the national system for supplying essential generic medicines (Syname). Its main operator, Cename, could secure its needs through tenders reserved for local manufacturers based on their production capacity,” said Loe Gisèle Etame, the association’s president. The goal would be to secure steady demand for the national industry in the essential generics segment.
However, this “domestication” of public procurement requires effective and timely payments. Cename is known for not always settling invoices on time, weakening cash flow and the operating cycle of local pharmaceutical companies. Without improved payment practices, public procurement is unlikely to have its intended impact, limiting support for national production and its potential effect on market structure and foreign exchange reserves.
Brice R. Mbodiam
