What Actually Delays Clinical Trials in Africa: A Systems-level Breakdown
African trial start-up is often described as slow. It is one of the most durable assumptions in global clinical development, and one of the least examined. It appears in sponsor discussions, conference panels, and country-selection assumptions. But clinical trial...
World Malaria Day: Prevention, Early Testing, and Research Still Matter in Africa
Malaria remains one of the most serious public health threats across Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were an estimated 282 million malaria cases globally in 2024 and 610,000 malaria deaths. The WHO African Region accounted for 95% of...
What Success Could Look Like in 10 Years: Africa’s Place in the Global Life Sciences Value Chain
Africa carries a substantial share of the global disease burden but continues to host only a small proportion of global clinical trials (1). This imbalance affects where evidence is generated, whose populations are represented, and how confidently findings can be...
Global Health and Industry Are Not Opposites: Why Impact and Excellence Depend on Alignment
A familiar narrative in global health frames the pharmaceutical industry and global health priorities as fundamentally opposed: one driven by profit, the other by people. It is a compelling framing, but one that is often too simplistic to be useful. The more important...
African-Led CROs and SMOs: Why Governance Matters More Than Scale
Growth in African clinical research is becoming more visible. More studies are being placed, more partnerships are being announced, and regulatory systems in several countries are evolving. But beneath that momentum sits a quieter question: what determines whether...
World Health Day 2026: Standing with Science for Stronger Health Systems in Africa
World Health Day 2026: A Call to Action Every year on 7 April, World Health Day creates an opportunity to reflect on urgent health challenges and renew commitment to stronger, more equitable health systems. In 2026, the World Health Organization’s theme, “Together...
The Workforce Question: Who Actually Runs High-Quality Trials in Africa?
Africa carries roughly a quarter of the world’s disease burden, yet in 2023 just 1.1% of clinical trials initiated globally were hosted on the continent (1). The infrastructure argument, regulatory gaps, ethics review timelines, laboratory Capaci, is familiar...
Health Systems Data, Not Just Trials: The Missing Link in Africa’s Life Sciences Strategy
Clinical trials remain essential to medical evidence generation. They are critical for establishing whether new interventions are safe and effective under controlled conditions. But for African health systems and life sciences strategy, trial data alone is not enough....