Tunisia has the lion’s share, 44% of intra-regional exports of pharmaceuticals in North Africa, according to a study on “the potential for promoting regional value chains: a mapping exercise on the pharmaceutical sector”, presented Thursday in Marrakech, Morocco.
Morocco ranks second with 40% of these intra-regional exports, Egypt 13% and Algeria 2.3%.
The study was presented by adviser to the Economic Commission for Africa-North Africa, Patricia AUGIER, at the expert meeting on “Unlocking the Potential of Regional Value Chains in North Africa: Focus on the Pharmaceutical and Digital Finance Sectors” held on November 24 and 25 by the ECA Subregional Office in North Africa.
For intra-regional imports, the largest share is carried out by Algeria (61%). Mauritania, Tunisia, and Morocco each purchase between 12% and 13% of these imports.
Egypt buys almost nothing from North African countries (contribution of only 0.2%), according to the same study.
In sum, total intra-regional trade in pharmaceuticals has increased from $80 million in 2008 to just over $140 million (average of the 3 years of 2016, 2017,2018).
North African countries trade a tiny 2.3% of their total imports and exports among themselves.
According to this study, the low level of regional integration of trade in pharmaceuticals in North African countries is related to the fact that almost all imports in this sector come from the rest of the world and that the weight of these imports in the total trade of the region is very high.
For two days, experts from the North African region are meeting in the red city of Marrakech (western Morocco) to conduct a diagnosis of opportunities for the establishment of value chains of the pharmaceutical industry and digital finance in North Africa, analyze the development potential of these niches and create a framework for joint action to facilitate the realization of the opportunities identified
