India’s drug lifeline to Africa disrupted by Iran war

India supplies roughly 40% of Africa’s imported medicines, serving as the backbone of public healthcare systems across the continent. Drugs manufactured in Indian cities like Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai typically transit through Gulf hubs such as Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi before reaching African ports. These hubs provide critical logistics for temperature-sensitive medications, including vaccines, and handle large shipments efficiently. The Iran war has disrupted shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, increasing freight costs, war-risk premiums, and forcing airlines to reroute cargo. Rising oil prices further strain pharmaceutical companies by increasing manufacturing and transportation costs. Unlike Europe or the U.S., African countries maintain minimal medicine stockpiles, relying on tight procurement cycles, making delays more impactful. The crisis has exposed Africa’s reliance on Indian generics and Asian supply chains, even for locally assembled medicines, as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and packaging materials are largely imported from India and China. Costs for raw materials like paracetamol inputs have nearly doubled, while some inputs have surged by 40% to 50%, though manufacturers have struggled to pass these increases onto financially stretched African markets. Basic medicines, including antibiotics, diabetes and hypertension drugs, and common painkillers, are the most vulnerable to disruption. Delays in supply chains risk shortages of essential drugs, threatening primary healthcare systems already operating on limited buffers. Experts warn this disruption highlights deeper structural weaknesses in Africa’s pharmaceutical supply chains, which depend heavily on external imports.