The Republic of Namibia becomes the fifth African Union (AU) Member State to ratify the Treaty for the establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA) on 19 January 2021 in Windhoek, Namibia and deposited the instrument of accession, to the Commission of the AU on 18 February 2020 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. H.E. Amira Elfadil Mohammed, Commissioner for Social Affairs, at the African Union Commission, who has been leading advocacy efforts towards the swift ratification and establishment of AMA, received the instrument from the Namibian delegation. This makes the Republic of Namibia the first Member State from the Southern Africa Region to ratify the Treaty.

Speaking during the official deposit of the instrument, H.E. Emilia Ndinealo Mkusa, Ambassador of the Republic of Namibia to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, noted the critical role that AMA will play in making essential medicines and medical products accessible in Africa and underscored on the the need for other AU Member States to ratify the treaty. H.E. Mkusa stated that “the Republic of Namibia will advocate and support in mobilizing the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Member States to ratify AMA.”

AMA will be the second continental health agency that will enhance capacity of States Parties and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to regulate medical products in order to improve aceess to quality, safe and efficacious medical products on the continent. AMA will also promote the adoption and harmonization of medical products regulatory policies and standards, as well as scientific guidelines and coordinate existing regulatory harmonization efforts in the AU recognized RECs and Regional Organizations (RHOs).

AMA will complement the work of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), by providing technical support in the quality control of drugs, at the request of Member States which do not have the structures to carry out these examination/controls/checks. The agency will further coordinate and collaborate, where required, on a regular basis, the inspection of drug manufacturing sites, including the regulatory oversight and safety monitoring of medical products, as determined by State Parties and/or the AMA, and make reports available to State Parties. In addition, AMA will promote cooperation, partnership and recognition of regulatory decisions, in support of regional structures and National Medicines Regulatory Authorities (NMRAs).

The Commission encourages all its Member States to ratify and deposit the instrument of ratification at the Headquaters of the Commission, at the earliest, in the interest of continenatal public health, safety and security. The African Medicines Agency, will enter into force once ratified by fifteen(15) African Union Member States.

For further media inquiries, please contact:
Office of the Legal Counsel of the African Union Commission
Dr. Margaret Agama-Anyetei, Head of Division for Health, Nutrition and
Population; Social Affairs Department; AU Commission; Tel: +251115162211; E-mail: Agama-AnyeteiM@africa-union.org

For further media inquiries, please contact:
1. Mrs. Esther Azaa Tankou | Head of Information Division | Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission | Mobile: +251911361185 | E-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org
2. Ms. Dorothy Njagi | Strategic Communication Expert, Division for Health, Nutrition and Population | Directorate of Social Affairs, African Union Commission | Mobile: +251940559950 | E-mail: njagid@africa-union.org
3. Mr. Gamal Eldin Ahmed A. Karrar | Senior Communication Officer | Directorate of Information and Communications (DIC) | E-mail: GamalK@africa-union.org