Consulting Firm to Develop a Digital system for monitoring and tracing of registered pharma-ceutical products in West Africa - Project for the Development of the Pharmaceutical I

The Project titled Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry in the ECOWAS Region (DPI) in the ECOWAS Region is a regional undertaking, supported by the African Development Bank that aims to increase local manufacturing of essential, high-quality, safe, and effective drugs, medicines, and vaccines to better combat endemic diseases and future pandemics. This project was conceived to address structural challenges that undermine the pharmaceutical sector in the ECOWAS region—such as poor regulatory environments, fragmented markets, weak enabling conditions, limited access to finance, and constrained local production. A key component of this project is providing institutional support to enhance supply chain security for essential medicines targeting communicable diseases like malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS, and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). This focus is critical because the lack of availability and poor access to reliable medical products are central drivers of the global threat posed by substandard and falsified medical products. Each year, counterfeit and falsified vaccines and medicines cost low- and middle-income countries $30 billion—and over $200 billion globally—while their impact extends far beyond individual harm: they erode public trust in healthcare systems, accelerate drug resistance, undermine disease control efforts, and weaken confidence in pharmaceutical supply chains. Moreover, this illegal trade places an immense burden on regulatory authorities, law enforcement agencies, and public health institutions tasked with safeguarding medicine integrity—institutions that the DPI project is specifically designed to strengthen.