Indian health diplomacy in East Africa: Exploring the potential in pharmaceutical manufacturing

Indian engagement in East Africa’s health sector is multifaceted, comprehensive and involves national and subnational actors. It includes exports of low cost generics, building health infrastructure, aid, technical assistance and hosting medical tourists among others. This paper, based on extensive fieldwork conducted with multiple stakeholders in Kenya and Ethiopia, provides an overview of the various components of India’s co-operation in the East African health sector and identifies pharmaceutical manufacturing as a space for Indian actors to leverage their strengths. It focuses on two case studies of manufacturers: a third-generation company in Kenya owned by members of the Indian diaspora, and a newly formed subsidiary of an Indian corporation in Ethiopia. These case studies inform the larger debate on India’s health diplomacy on the continent and the myriad ways in which the Indian state as well as corporates can enhance existing co-operation.