Morocco’s role in the medicinal supply chain for Africa and beyond

Ali Seddiki discusses Morocco’s role as an exporter of medicines and his advice on preventing drug shortages

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Leila Hawkins
05/18/2022

Morocco successfully avoided drug shortages during the pandemic. In this discussion with Pharma Logistics IQ, Ali Seddiki, Director General of Investment and Business Climate for the Moroccan government, explains how it worked with the industry to achieve this, and the importance of the country’s pharmaceutical sector to the supply of medicines in Africa and beyond.

Pharma Logistics IQ: What types of medications does Morocco typically produce?

Ali Seddiki: The pharmaceutical sector in Morocco is a historical industry as it is more than 60 years old now. Our strongest areas are in manufacturing oral form medicines, dried tablets, effervescent tablets, syrups, oral suspension, dermal applications, suppositories and inhaled application like aerosols. We also produce insulin and export it to other countries, but I would say our main growth area would be injectables.

Pharma Logistics IQ: How important is the export of medicines to the Moroccan economy?

AS: It is very important sector for us. Its revenue is €1.7bn (US$1.8bn) and we export around 20 percent of that amount, mainly to Africa but also to Europe and to the Arab League countries including the Middle East, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Morocco is a hub for manufacturing. We have free trade agreements with 51 countries and we are the only African country to have a free trade agreement with both the US and the European Union (EU). We also have ongoing negotiations that will give us market access to 2.5 billion consumers. We have been growing for 60 years, with the aim of addressing local needs but also the needs of neighbouring African countries.

Pharma Logistics IQ: Recent events have highlighted how reliant some countries are on others in the supply chain. What was the impact of Covid-19 on Morocco?

AS: Covid-19 really gave us, in the government, the opportunity to take a deeper look at our pharmaceutical industry. We had to work closely with the industry to find out if our capacity would cover the spikes in demand at the time, and see how we could help neighbouring countries because it is very important that we contribute to growth in Africa sustainably.

We were astonished by the capacity of our local players and the agility they displayed. We had no shortages during the pandemic even when there was a surge in demand. We were fully self-sufficient, and not all countries could say that. We were also able to export some of our medicines to African countries that needed our help. This gave us a lot of ideas to see how we could secure more of the upstream of the value chain located near Europe and the UK.

Pharma Logistics IQ: How do you aim to create a closer relationship with the UK and Europe?

AS: Morocco is only 14 kilometres away from Europe and we have a common border with the UK in Gibraltar. We want to build a strategic perimeter with shorter lead times to Europe and the UK. That's also very important, not only do you need to be able to produce, but you need to do it cost efficiently for part of the value chain and be able to deliver fast.

It does not make sense to relocate part of the industry to the UK or Europe because that would not be cost efficient. When you look at the demographics, you will need technicians and young people to work in the manufacturing plants. The average age in Morocco is 29, while in Eastern Europe it is 46 and in Western Europe it is around 42.

Pharma Logistics IQ: From your experience during the pandemic, what advice would you offer other organizations to prevent supply chain disruptions?

AS: What we found to be the most effective way of dealing with the pandemic was the quality of the relationship between the government and the private sector. We took that partnership to the next level and created what we call an “industrial acceleration plan”. We already had an existing base, connected to all the manufacturing industries in Morocco. But when the pandemic happened and we felt that we needed to cover all areas to avoid shortages, whether in agribusiness, manufacturing or drug production, we created a “war room” and communicated on a daily basis with all the industries, handling their requests to make their supply chain more efficient.

We connected with customs and with our embassies all over the world to secure strategic sourcing in case we needed it, which really helped. That's the agility I'm talking about. It became such a close partnership that we did not know who was private sector and who was public sector at one point because we knew exactly what everyone’s plans were. My advice would be to create this platform of connection with the industry.

Pharma Logistics IQ: Can you tell us about Morocco’s new Covid-19 manufacturing project?

AS: The main advantage of starting something from scratch is that you can use the latest, cutting-edge technologies. There is an urge to create capacity in Africa to address the needs of the continent, and that is really challenging. That is why King Mohamed VI gave his instruction to spare no efforts in order to have the most efficient and the best standards in technology for vaccine production. This ecosystem will ensure the production of active substances for more than 20 vaccines, three of which will be for coronavirus.

As part of the project, we will be creating a biotech hub with R&D facilities, clinical testing and manufacturing, but also marketing for all relevant biopharma products. We are investing heavily in this – it is a US$0.5bn project with different phases that will integrate all parts of the ecosystem, not only manufacturing, but also the R&D. Our aim is for this to be a manufacturing hub for Africa.

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