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Africa accounts for 25% of the global disease burden, the bulk (over 75%) of the global infectious disease burden and more than 50% of the global deaths of children under five, yet it consumes only 1% of global healthcare expenditure. It is estimated that one-third of the developing world’s people-especially in Africa- are unable to receive or purchase essential medicines on a regular basis. The coronavirus pandemic further exacerbated the above challenges with reduced global production output and disrupted supply chains especially for African countries that heavily relied on imports of pharmaceuticals. Scaling up local production of pharmaceuticals in Africa from the current less than 30% is therefore essential in tackling local epidemics of common communicable and non-communicable diseases. This paper assessed the challenges faced by a local Ugandan startup in view of informing policy directions to improve local pharmaceutical production in Africa.