The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has called for stronger cooperation and coordination among African food regulatory authorities to address growing food safety challenges across the continent.
Adeyeye made the call while participating in the Third African Food Regulatory Authorities Forum (AFRAF) in Cairo, Egypt, where she spoke on the theme, “From Regional Economic Communities to a Continental Platform.”
The NAFDAC boss said Africa needed a more coherent continental regulatory approach to tackle food safety risks arising from interconnected food systems and supply chains, cross-border trade, food fraud, climate change and technological innovation.
She stressed that regulatory convergence must produce practical benefits, including faster information sharing, improved analytical capacity, virtual learning and harmonised regulatory requirements across African countries.
She also called for sustained investment in regulatory capacity, laboratory infrastructure, digital technologies, human resources and effective surveillance systems.
According to her, African countries must move beyond having regulators work alongside one another to a system where they actively collaborate in building safe, resilient and effective food systems.
She said stronger continental cooperation would enable African regulators to respond more effectively to shared food safety threats and improve public health outcomes across the continent.