The “2025 West Africa Healthcare Market Development Opportunities Exchange and Economic & Trade Cooperation Matchmaking Conference — Hunan Enterprises Going Global Special Session” concluded successfully this week, strengthening China–Africa medical cooperation and opening new pathways for Hunan enterprises seeking to enter West Africa’s fast-growing healthcare market. The event built a high-level collaboration platform connecting Hunan’s biopharmaceutical strengths with West Africa’s surging demand for medical technologies, devices, and pharmaceutical products.
During the session’s focused discussions, experts from Ghana and Guinea joined Chinese enterprises for detailed exchanges on market access requirements, including drug registration procedures, certification standards, and regulatory frameworks. Guinean specialists provided on-site briefings on pharmaceutical qualification steps—from company registration to cold-chain logistics certification—offering practical guidance for Liuyang-based enterprises preparing to enter West African markets.
Dr. Yakubu Tobor Yusuf, Director-General of the Ghana Traditional Medicine Authority, expressed strong optimism about future cooperation. “Through the HCOWA platform, our visit to China has allowed us to meet committed partners and witness the strength of Chinese medical technology,” he said. Highlighting West Africa’s abundance of medicinal plant resources—Côte d’Ivoire alone has more than 200 registered medicinal plants—Dr. Yusuf underscored the vast potential for collaboration in traditional medicine research and innovation.
He extended an invitation to Liuyang enterprises, noting that West African governments are rolling out supportive investment incentives, including tax reductions and streamlined approvals. “We welcome enterprises from the zone to invest and grow in West Africa, share in the region’s development opportunities, and achieve mutual success,” he added.
HCOWA President Ms. Jiang Sihong addressed common challenges faced by Chinese enterprises expanding abroad, emphasizing HCOWA’s role as a strategic bridge for China–Africa cooperation. “HCOWA is committed to helping enterprises ‘cluster together for warmth,’ integrate resources, share channels, and jointly explore West Africa’s healthcare blue ocean,” she said. Jiang also announced that the 2026 HCOWA China–West Africa Healthcare Industry Expo and AI Diagnosis & Treatment Summit will prioritize supply–demand matchmaking to create a more direct and efficient cooperation platform.
Delegates expressed strong interest in the Liuyang Economic Development Zone, a key pharmaceutical base in Hunan known for its strengths in R&D, production capacity, and quality management. The conference resulted in initial agreements on three traditional medicine cooperation projects, with both sides set to form dedicated working groups to promote mutual recognition of drug registrations and accelerate project implementation.
The conference clarified key pathways for China–Africa pharmaceutical collaboration and laid a solid foundation for tangible outcomes. With HCOWA’s professional guidance, healthcare professionals from Hunan and West Africa are leveraging traditional medicine as a cultural bridge and standardization as a cooperation framework—allowing the seeds of medical collaboration to take root and flourish across both regions.
