Tunisia and Libya have officially joined the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM) after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Tunis.
The memorandum of understanding formalising Tunisia and Libya’s participation in the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM) was signed on the sidelines of a meeting of the Regional Steering Committee (ReSCO) of the Regional Collaborating Centre (RCC) for North Africa.
Dr Raji Tajudeen, Africa CDC’s Deputy Director General, represented the institution’s Director General, Dr Jean Kaseya, at the signing ceremony.
Approved by the African Union (AU) at its 37th Ordinary Session in February 2024, the APPM aims to strengthen African countries’ collective bargaining power in the procurement of essential medical products and supplies.
The mechanism also seeks to promote local manufacturing and help make essential health products more affordable, available and accessible to African populations.
With the accession of Tunisia and Libya, the APPM now brings together seven African countries, alongside Egypt, Ghana, Botswana, Namibia and São Tomé and Príncipe.
Their accession marks a further step in efforts to strengthen the continent’s health supply chains and enhance African countries’ capacity to collectively meet their needs for medical products.
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