The Human Sciences Research Council’s Africa BRICS and Global South (ABGS) research unit will host a seminar focused on utilising the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to promote regional health-industrial integration and foster inclusive development across the continent. 

The ABGS research unit, based at the Human Sciences Research Council’s (HSRC), focuses on issues related to Africa, BRICS, and the Global South.

Their research explores topics like economic integration, health security, and the role of BRICS in the Global South. 

The hybrid seminar will be held at the HSRC Building in Pretoria on Tuesday, 17 June 2025.

Presented by Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, Dr Geoffrey Banda, the seminar will focus on how the AfCFTA can be a powerful catalyst for strengthening Africa’s local health security through increased and resilient regional trade, industrialisation, and innovation.

“The seminar will further explore how aligning health and industrial policy within the framework of the AfCFTA can drive job creation, enhance resilience, and support the continent’s broader development ambitions under Agenda 2063,” the advisory read. 

In his recent book, “Cancer Care in Pandemic Times: Building Inclusive Local Health Security in Africa and India”, Banda makes a strong argument for an interdisciplinary approach that combines health research with industrialisation and regional economic integration. 

The HSRC said this approach aims to develop sustainable and context-specific solutions to the health challenges faced in Africa.

Key themes to be explored include the vulnerabilities associated with reliance on global supply chains, the intentional connection between health and industrial capabilities, the transition to new technologies along with industrial capabilities, and the use of the AfCFTA to scale innovative procurement. 

“This approach aims to gradually develop continental innovation ecosystems that support resilient regional trading systems.”-