Photo – Elen Sher/Unsplash

From News Desk

South African manufacturers and distributors are capturing a growing share of continental healthcare demand, with African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It shall reshape how countries buy essential healthcare products and the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM) moving from policy to implementation.

In February 2026, African Union (AU) leaders committed to fully operationalising APPM as a strategic “Buy African” initiative through demand aggregation, market shaping and long-term offtake arrangements. By May, the Africa CDC had completed its first APPM tender across 10 AU Member States, securing 30–90% lower prices and involving African manufacturers in five of the 10 products tendered . In June, Egypt became the first AU Member State to formally join APPM and agreed to host its operational headquarters, underlining the mechanism’s shift to continent-wide deployment.

More than R 33 billion (USD 2 billion) in new healthcare investment is flowing into African markets through development finance institutions, private equity and blended-finance vehicles. As South Africa’s operational and financial centre, Johannesburg is where much of that capital is deployed, financed and managed.

Taking place from 6th – 8th October 2026 at the Gallagher Convention Centre, the World Health Expo (WHX) in Johannesburg will bring the continent’s healthcare procurement and investment leaders into one room: the most direct route to market for manufacturers and investors serious about African trade. With 13 country pavilions and a dedicated Laboratory Zone, more than 600 exhibitors from 60+ countries; and over 10,000 professional visits across a 15,000 net sqm show floor, WHX is positioned at the intersection of South Africa’s healthcare investment corridor and uniquely timed to connect local manufacturers and continental procurement decision-makers and investors.