Globalization is defined by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as “the process through which an increasingly free flow of ideas, people, goods, services, and capital leads to the integration of economies and societies, which is being imposed upon the world by some countries and institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank (WB)”.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization, which superseded the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO was established in 1995 to uphold international rules in trade among nations. This allows nations the environment to negotiate trade agreements and settle disputes between member states. This set of rules have fuelled globalization, causing both positive and negative impacts in African nations.

Most of the big pharmaceutical players (Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Roche, Novartis, and Merck & Co) by revenue, reside in western and more developed nations. This tends to leave African countries dependent on the development of new medical technology and essential lifesaving drugs for public health security. There is also the generic pharmaceuticals industry, which concentrates most of its production in Asia (India and China), which are cheaper but the lack of medicines regulatory authorities in African countries, fail to address public health concerns.

This report will outline the challenges and opportunities of globalization, and its contribution to the inequitable access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines in the African continent.