Tanzania’s health industrialisation is a strategic investment case
The next phase of global health security will not be defined solely by scientific discovery. It will be shaped by the location of manufacturing capacity, the diversification of supply chains, and the success of emerging markets in converting demographic growth into investable healthcare ecosystems.
Tanzania intends to be one of them.
Africa still imports between 70 and 95 per cent of its pharmaceuticals with the Covid-19 pandemic exposing this dependency. The onset of export restrictions, logistics bottlenecks and currency volatility undermined predictable access to essential medicines. This remains a structural vulnerability across many countries.
Tanzania’s response is not rhetorical. It is industrial.
Under President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s Vision 2050 framework, healthcare manufacturing is as a core pillar of economic transformation. Tanzania is moving purposefully from dependence to domestic pharmaceutical production, medical device assembly, diagnostics and, over time, biologics and advanced formulation.
The investment case rests on three fundamentals.
First, macroeconomic stability. Tanzania’s GDP growth remains close to 6 per cent, inflation is quiescent at around 3 per cent, and public debt stands at a manageable 48 per cent of GDP — below our sustainability threshold. Sovereign ratings of B1 (Moody’s) and B+ (Fitch) reflect resilience in a volatile global environment. In 2025 alone, 927 investment projects valued at over $11bn were registered, a near 19 per cent year-on-year increase.
Second, market leverage. Tanzania’s population now exceeds 65m and is growing, with expanding insurance coverage driving formal demand for medicines and services. More importantly, our geography positions us as a logistics gateway to over 300m consumers across the East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC). Under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), pharmaceutical production in Tanzania can serve a much broader integrated market.
Third, the government has delivered regulatory and institutional reform aligned with investor requirements. The Universal Health Insurance Act of 2023, for example, mandates progressive enrolment and expands pooled purchasing power.
Approximately one-third of Tanzanians are currently covered through public schemes, with coverage rising steadily. Predictable pooled demand is the cornerstone of bankable health manufacturing.
Meanwhile, the Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority (TMDA) is strengthening Good Manufacturing Practice compliance pathways and accelerating regulatory timelines. In tandem, the Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority (TISEZA) provides fiscal incentives, industrial land access and streamlined licensing.
An important part of this vision is the 600-acre Mloganzila Pharmaceutical Special Economic Zone, intended to support cluster-based growth in pharmaceutical and health-related manufacturing. The Mloganzila initiative is designed to bring together industrial land, infrastructure, regulatory facilitation and investment collaboration. This approach can improve implementation efficiency, strengthen industrial linkages and create a more attractive environment for long-term investors and technical partners.
These are the fruits of a structured industrial policy.
For City of London investors, the opportunity lies in scalable platforms rather than isolated factories. Pharmaceutical formulation, contract development and manufacturing, packaging, cold-chain logistics and distribution networks can be built through blended finance structures. Export credit agencies, development finance institutions and commercial lenders all have a role in mitigating early-stage risk.
The UK’s life sciences sector — which generates more than $50bn in annual exports and attracted over $2bn in venture capital last year — offers precisely the expertise Tanzania seeks: contract manufacturing, regulatory science, diagnostics, med-tech engineering and health innovation ecosystems. We are engaging institutional investors, private equity and strategic operators for long-term technology transfer and industrial partnership.
The health policy dimension is equally important. Universal health coverage is macroeconomic infrastructure as well as a social aspiration. When health systems are underfunded and import-dependent, fiscal volatility increases and households bear catastrophic expenditure risks. Strong domestic manufacturing capacity stabilises supply, makes pricing more predictable, and public procurement becomes more strategic.
The Lancet has consistently argued that resilient health systems depend on local capacity and sustainable financing. Tanzania’s reforms deliver both.
Critically, our objective is not protectionism. Tanzania remains open to global capital and expertise. But we are intentional about value addition. Raw import and resale are not development. Local formulation, packaging, workforce training and eventual research collaboration are.
The Healthcare and Life Sciences Investment Roundtable in London on 18 March, hosted by the Tanzania High Commission and held in the orbit of the UK Global Health Summit, reflected this shift in posture.
For investors seeking exposure to demographic growth, regional integration and industrial upgrading — in a sector with structural demand — Tanzania’s health transformation is not an aid narrative. It is a long-term platform opportunity.
The question is not whether Africa will industrialise segments of its healthcare supply chain. The question is where the anchor markets will emerge.
Tanzania intends to be one of them.
Hon. Mohamed Omary Mchengerwa is Tanzania’s Minister of Health.
