When President William Ruto announced in October 2023 that at least 50 percent of medicines on the Kenya Essential Medicines List (KEML) would be manufactured locally by 2026, it gave hope to local pharmaceutical manufacturers who had struggled for many years to compete with cheaper imports and unreliable government payments.
The long-term goal was to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign supply chains, cut the annual pharmaceutical import bill by Sh76 billion, and build a domestic industry capable of supplying Kenyans with the medicines they need most.
“Mark these dates because they are important to you as manufacturers: by 2026, at least 50 percent of the medicines listed in the Kenya Essential Medicines List will be manufactured and available locally,” President Ruto told manufacturers at a manufacturing expo at the KICC.
However, as of mid-2026, local manufacturers were still supplying between 20 percent and 30 percent of the country’s pharmaceutical demand, with imports, primarily from India, accounting for the remaining 70 to 80 percent.
India alone accounted for between 37 and 45 percent of pharmaceutical imports by value. Similarly, the total import bill has climbed from Sh92.9 billion in 2022 to Sh99.8 billion in 2024, moving in the opposite direction to the target.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines essential medicines as those that ‘satisfy the priority healthcare needs of a population’, selected based on disease prevalence, safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness, and intended to be available at all times at prices that individuals and health systems can afford.
Kenya’s national list comprises 1,096 formulations, including antibiotics, antimalarials, antiretrovirals, insulin, and vaccines— the drugs that treat the diseases responsible for the highest mortality rates in Kenya.
However, local manufacturers produce only 220 of these, accounting for just 20 percent of the drugs deemed essential by the Kenyan government. This leaves the remaining 80 percent subject to global supply chains, foreign currency fluctuations, and the pricing decisions of manufacturers in India and China.
“When import prices rise, the cost of treatment rises for the government, insurers, and patients paying out of pocket.’ When supply chains break down, as they did during the pandemic, countries without domestic manufacturing capacity have to wait. Kenya waited,” said Geoffrey King’otho, a health analyst.
According to the just-launched Kenya Health Products and Technologies Local Manufacturing Strategy (2026–2030), a framework valued at Sh194.2 billion that aims to achieve pharmaceutical self-sufficiency by 2028, failure to meet this target is not due to a lack of manufacturing capacity.
It notes that Kenya has over 37 licensed pharmaceutical manufacturers and is the most advanced producer in East Africa, as well as being the continent’s third-largest pharmaceutical exporter.
However, companies such as Beta Healthcare, Cosmos Limited, Dawa Limited, Elys Chemical Industries, Regal Pharmaceuticals, and Universal Corporation primarily produce generic tablets, capsules, creams, and liquids, and still rely heavily on imported active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs)—the raw compounds from which medicines are made) from India and China.
“Kenya continues to lag in the production of complex pharmaceutical formulations and APIs due to inadequate innovation, limited technology and technology transfer opportunities, and weak market assurance mechanisms,” the strategy stated.
Despite constraints, Kenya remains the most advanced pharmaceutical manufacturer in East Africa and the third-largest exporter of pharmaceuticals on the continent.
Production volume increased by 2.5 percent in 2024 due to higher output of tablets and syrups, and export values grew from Sh12.2 billion in 2022 to Sh19.9 billion in 2024, a 63 percent increase over two years. Tanzania absorbs 21 percent of those exports, Uganda 20 percent, and Rwanda and Somalia 8 percent each.
However, while the government is committed to buying locally, chronic payment delays by public procurement agencies have pushed manufacturers toward the private sector and export markets, where they are paid promptly. Research conducted at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) and local universities rarely makes it to commercial production.
“There is a need to resolve the challenges facing the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry to fully unlock its potential. Addressing high import costs, financing gaps, technology transfer barriers, and regulatory hurdles would strengthen local production, create jobs, save foreign exchange, and enhance access to quality healthcare,” said Dr Ouma Oluga, Principal Secretary for Medical Services.
Against this backdrop, the 2026–2030 strategy is structured around three pillars. The first of these is to scale up and diversify manufacturing capacity to raise factory utilisation to 70 percent, expand into the domestic production of APIs, and invest in research and development. Technology transfer agreements for at least three priority molecules are planned within the strategy period, which would be a first for Kenya.
The second pillar is regulatory and policy reform. The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) has introduced a faster product evaluation process and reduced fees for local manufacturers, attracting 13 new companies to the sector.
The strategy also sets the target of achieving the WHO Maturity Level 3 status, which would enable Kenyan-manufactured products to be procured by UN agencies. This status is also a prerequisite for the Kenya Biovax Institute to commercialise locally manufactured vaccines.
Lastly, the strategy introduces a Preferential Procurement Master Roll comprising 347 health products that will be prioritised in public sector tenders. Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) and other government agencies have been instructed to purchase these products locally. It also proposes an escrow mechanism to ensure that manufacturers are paid.
