The African Pharmaceutical Network (APN) Signs a Partnership Agreement with the Medical Technology Industry Association of Kenya (MEDAK) on Capacity Building

The African Pharmaceutical Network (APN) has signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Medical Technology Industry Association of Kenya (MEDAK) to collaborate on capacity building, policy advocacy, and market-shaping initiatives aimed at accelerating the growth of the medical technology industry in Kenya and across Africa.

The partnership is anchored on three strategic pillars: capacity building, policy shaping, and market-shaping interventions. Both organizations identified these areas as critical to unlocking the potential of the region's emerging biomedical industry.

In affirming the collaboration, both organizations acknowledged that the medical devices and technology sector across much of Africa remains relatively nascent compared to the pharmaceutical industry. Many countries still operate without robust and harmonized regulatory frameworks for medical technologies, creating gaps in quality assurance, market oversight, and patient safety. Weak regulatory systems, similar to those historically observed in pharmaceuticals, pose risks to product integrity and supply reliability, underscoring the urgent need for investment in strengthening medical device regulatory capacity across the region.

From a trade and market access perspective, the partners also noted persistent challenges linked to tariff application and product classification. Due to underdeveloped regulatory and classification regimes, some medical devices and components are occasionally assigned general goods Harmonized System (HS) codes, resulting in inappropriate taxation despite policy intentions to zero-rate essential medical technologies. These distortions contribute to higher procurement costs and reduced affordability of healthcare solutions, highlighting the need for coordinated policy engagement and regulatory clarity.

Through this collaboration, APN will leverage its role as a convener, knowledge partner, and academic institution to support the growth and maturation of the medical technology industry in partnership with MEDAK. Through its training institute, APN will design and implement specialized professional development programs to build talent for the medical technology industry. These programs will build on existing APN offerings in Regulatory Affairs, Pharmacovigilance, and Supply Chain Management, while expanding into medical device-specific competencies.

The initiative aims to cultivate a skilled workforce capable of supporting industry growth, regulatory strengthening, and innovation adoption across Africa. Under the agreement, MEDAK members will benefit from preferential access to these training programs at discounted rates. MEDAK will support these efforts by providing industry experts as guest lecturers, facilitating competency mapping, and coordinating industry placements and fellowships for learners undertaking APN courses.

The policy engagement pillar will focus on convening multi-stakeholder dialogues, coordinating engagement with government and regulatory agencies, and sharing global best practices to address pressing regulatory, trade, and intellectual property challenges affecting the biomedical industry. In addition, the Memorandum of Understanding outlines market-shaping interventions designed to align biomedical industry priorities with national health agendas.

This collaboration reflects a shared commitment by APN and MEDAK to strengthen health systems, enhance regulatory maturity, and improve patient access to quality medical technologies through coordinated capacity development, policy dialogue, and market-shaping interventions.