ClinicalTrials.gov API v2 · Live Analysis

Clinical Trials in Africa
Country-by-Country

Interventional trial counts across all 54 African nations, ranked by volume and adjusted for population.

Total Trials

22,110

Countries with Trials

53/54

Africa Population

1444M

Trials per Million

15.3

Countries Zero Trials

1

Data Retrieved

2026-04-03 14:31

Key Finding

Egypt leads Africa with 11,752 registered interventional trials, followed by South Africa (3,654) and Uganda (809). Together, these three countries account for 73% of all African clinical trials while representing only 15% of the continent's population.

Trial Volume by Country (Top 30)

Trials per Million Population (Top 20)

Sub-Regional Distribution

Full Country Table

#	Country	Trials	% of Total	Population	Trials/M
1	Egypt	11,752	53.2%	104.5M	112.5
2	South Africa	3,654	16.5%	60.4M	60.5
3	Uganda	809	3.7%	48.6M	16.6
4	Kenya	788	3.6%	55.1M	14.3
5	Tunisia	540	2.4%	12.5M	43.2
6	Tanzania	460	2.1%	65.5M	7.0
7	Nigeria	379	1.7%	223.8M	1.7
8	Malawi	344	1.6%	20.4M	16.9
9	Zambia	307	1.4%	20.6M	14.9
10	Ethiopia	302	1.4%	126.5M	2.4
11	Ghana	261	1.2%	33.5M	7.8
12	Burkina Faso	215	1.0%	22.7M	9.5
13	Zimbabwe	201	0.9%	16.7M	12.0
14	Mali	183	0.8%	22.6M	8.1
15	Morocco	162	0.7%	37.5M	4.3
16	Democratic Republic of Congo	160	0.7%	102.3M	1.6
17	Mozambique	147	0.7%	33.9M	4.3
18	Rwanda	138	0.6%	14.1M	9.8
19	Cameroon	133	0.6%	28.6M	4.7
20	Botswana	123	0.6%	2.6M	47.3
21	Algeria	114	0.5%	45.6M	2.5
22	Senegal	113	0.5%	17.9M	6.3
23	Cote d'Ivoire	93	0.4%	28.9M	3.2
24	Gambia	82	0.4%	2.7M	30.4
25	Gabon	64	0.3%	2.4M	26.7
26	Guinea-Bissau	57	0.3%	2.1M	27.1
27	Benin	55	0.2%	13.4M	4.1
28	Sudan	55	0.2%	48.1M	1.1
29	Sierra Leone	54	0.2%	8.6M	6.3
30	Mauritius	48	0.2%	1.3M	36.9
31	Niger	44	0.2%	26.2M	1.7
32	Lesotho	38	0.2%	2.3M	16.5
33	Guinea	35	0.2%	14.2M	2.5
34	Madagascar	33	0.1%	30.3M	1.1
35	Liberia	31	0.1%	5.4M	5.7
36	Eswatini	30	0.1%	1.2M	25.0
37	Togo	14	0.1%	9.0M	1.6
38	Burundi	13	0.1%	13.2M	1.0
39	Libya	12	0.1%	7.0M	1.7
40	Angola	10	0.0%	36.7M	0.3
41	Central African Republic	9	0.0%	5.7M	1.6
42	Chad	9	0.0%	18.3M	0.5
43	South Sudan	8	0.0%	11.1M	0.7
44	Namibia	7	0.0%	2.6M	2.7
45	Somalia	6	0.0%	18.1M	0.3
46	Comoros	4	0.0%	0.9M	4.4
47	Congo (Brazzaville)	4	0.0%	6.1M	0.7
48	Equatorial Guinea	3	0.0%	1.7M	1.8
49	Djibouti	2	0.0%	1.1M	1.8
50	Mauritania	2	0.0%	4.9M	0.4
51	Cabo Verde	1	0.0%	0.6M	1.7
52	Eritrea	1	0.0%	3.7M	0.3
53	Seychelles	1	0.0%	0.1M	10.0
54	Sao Tome and Principe	0	0%	0.2M	0

Why It Matters

Clinical trial distribution across Africa reveals a continent of extreme internal inequality. A handful of nations — primarily Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya — host the vast majority of research activity, while dozens of countries with significant disease burdens have minimal or no trial presence. The per-capita analysis exposes further inequities: small nations with established research infrastructure (like Gambia, thanks to the MRC unit) can outperform giants like Nigeria on a population-adjusted basis. Understanding these patterns is essential for any strategy to build equitable, sovereign clinical research capacity across the continent.

Clinical Trials in AfricaCountry-by-Country

Clinical Trials in Africa
Country-by-Country