MUKONO, Uganda — 30 October 2026. Zakayo Industries Limited commissioned an HIV self-test assembly and packaging facility in Ntenjeru, Mukono District, on Thursday, 29 October. Working with US-based OraSure Technologies, the company is preparing OraQuick oral-fluid self-test kits closer to the East African markets they serve, according to Daily Monitor's reporting from the commissioning.
The company hopes to bring the retail price of a kit down to UGX 7,000 and says it has dispatched a consignment to Kenya. Both are company statements: the new price has not been established as a nationwide retail rate, and shipment receipt or sale in Kenya has not been independently documented in the announcement.
What has changed in Uganda's HIV self-test supply?
Zakayo Industries has opened a Mukono operation to assemble and package OraQuick HIV self-tests in Uganda. It reports higher production capacity, a target retail price of UGX 7,000 and a shipment to Kenya. The launch does not establish full local manufacturing or guarantee that cheaper kits are already on pharmacy shelves.
What the Mukono plant is doing now
The distinguishing feature of the Ntenjeru operation is local assembly and secondary packaging of an established product, rather than the complete manufacture of every component inside Uganda. At the commissioning, an OraSure representative described a supply chain in which materials came from the United States and kits were assembled in Thailand before being transported to African customers. Localizing part of the process could shorten that route.
Plant manager Shamim Nagayi told the Monitor that assembly began in June at approximately 10,000 kits per eight-hour shift and has since reached a claimed 50,000–60,000 kits per day. These are company-reported output figures, not independently audited sales or distribution totals. The report also says the facility employs more than 120 people.
According to the same account, the company aims to progress from the current assembly-and-packaging model to primary packaging and fuller manufacturing by 2028. That date describes a business plan, not a completed production stage. Local jobs and a shorter logistics chain are meaningful developments, but the extent of domestic value added will depend on which inputs and processes actually move into Uganda.
Will HIV self-test kits really cost UGX 7,000?
The proposed price cut is likely to be the most immediate question for Ugandan buyers. Zakayo's management compared an existing retail range of about UGX 25,000–30,000 with a hoped-for UGX 7,000 price. The latter is a target, and a factory launch does not by itself establish when pharmacies will offer kits at that amount.
HEALTH NEWS
Uganda HIV Self-Test Assembly: Prices, Jobs and Exports
Oct 30, 2026
Oct 30, 2026
6 min read
Published
Updated:
MUKONO, Uganda — 30 October 2026. Zakayo Industries Limited commissioned an HIV self-test assembly and packaging facility in Ntenjeru, Mukono District, on Thursday, 29 October. Working with US-based OraSure Technologies, the company is preparing OraQuick oral-fluid self-test kits closer to the East African markets they serve, according to Daily Monitor's reporting from the commissioning.
The company hopes to bring the retail price of a kit down to UGX 7,000 and says it has dispatched a consignment to Kenya. Both are company statements: the new price has not been established as a nationwide retail rate, and shipment receipt or sale in Kenya has not been independently documented in the announcement.
What has changed in Uganda's HIV self-test supply?
Zakayo Industries has opened a Mukono operation to assemble and package OraQuick HIV self-tests in Uganda. It reports higher production capacity, a target retail price of UGX 7,000 and a shipment to Kenya. The launch does not establish full local manufacturing or guarantee that cheaper kits are already on pharmacy shelves.
What the Mukono plant is doing now
The distinguishing feature of the Ntenjeru operation is local assembly and secondary packaging of an established product, rather than the complete manufacture of every component inside Uganda. At the commissioning, an OraSure representative described a supply chain in which materials came from the United States and kits were assembled in Thailand before being transported to African customers. Localizing part of the process could shorten that route.
Plant manager Shamim Nagayi told the Monitor that assembly began in June at approximately 10,000 kits per eight-hour shift and has since reached a claimed 50,000–60,000 kits per day. These are company-reported output figures, not independently audited sales or distribution totals. The report also says the facility employs more than 120 people.
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According to the same account, the company aims to progress from the current assembly-and-packaging model to primary packaging and fuller manufacturing by 2028. That date describes a business plan, not a completed production stage. Local jobs and a shorter logistics chain are meaningful developments, but the extent of domestic value added will depend on which inputs and processes actually move into Uganda.
Will HIV self-test kits really cost UGX 7,000?
The proposed price cut is likely to be the most immediate question for Ugandan buyers. Zakayo's management compared an existing retail range of about UGX 25,000–30,000 with a hoped-for UGX 7,000 price. The latter is a target, and a factory launch does not by itself establish when pharmacies will offer kits at that amount.
Retail availability, distributor margins and the final selling price remain important tests of the announcement. In addition, shoppers should not mistake a planned private-market price for a new fee at public facilities. The Monitor reports that HIV self-test kits are already supplied free of charge through government public health facilities, although people should ask their nearest facility about stock.
The practical implication is simple: do not assume the UGX 7,000 price is in effect everywhere. Buyers should check the current price and approved product with a recognized pharmacy or health service, while those seeking free testing can enquire at a government facility.
Assembly is not Uganda's first locally made HIV diagnostic programme
The October commissioning should not be described as Uganda's first attempt to make HIV diagnostics at home. In February 2025, the Uganda Investment Authority described local production of HIV, malaria and sickle-cell testing kits by Microhaem Scientifics and Medical Supplies.
On 2 April 2026, Uganda's Ministry of Health announced the deployment of locally manufactured kits for those three diseases through the national health system. That programme involves a different manufacturer and product range. Zakayo's latest development is therefore better understood as an additional assembly operation for OraQuick, rather than the birth of all Ugandan diagnostic manufacturing.
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The distinction also matters when assessing quality. The World Health Organization's product register lists the OraQuick HIV Self Test as prequalified, with OraSure Technologies as the applicant and oral fluid as the specimen type. Product prequalification, however, should not be confused with blanket verification of every local assembly line, facility certification or shipment. Those are separate matters for regulators and supply-chain partners to document.
What an OraQuick result can — and cannot — tell you
OraQuick is an oral-fluid antibody self-test: users collect fluid from the gumline and follow the kit instructions to obtain a preliminary result, without drawing blood. The manufacturer's product information explains that the test is intended to screen for antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2, not to diagnose other infections.
An HIV self-test is not a final positive diagnosis. The WHO self-testing implementation guidance says anyone with a reactive result needs further testing by a trained provider using the national testing algorithm, followed by appropriate support and care. A negative result does not necessarily exclude very recent exposure, so people with recent exposure or continuing risk should seek individualized testing advice.
Self-testing can offer privacy and convenience to people reluctant to visit a clinic. Its value depends equally on clear instructions, available confirmatory testing and pathways into prevention or treatment. Lower retail prices would be helpful, but they cannot replace those services.
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Kenya shipment and future diagnostic lines: what to watch
Zakayo's chief executive said a first consignment had been sent to Kenya on the commissioning day. This is a significant claim of regional ambition, but dispatch is not the same as verified delivery, regulatory clearance or commercial sale. Kenya's receiving documentation and any relevant product-market authorization would provide stronger evidence of an operating export channel.
OraSure's representative also raised the possibility of expanding the partnership into other diagnostics, including Ebola testing, while the plant has discussed hepatitis and sickle-cell products. These remain prospective lines, not products confirmed as being manufactured at Ntenjeru.
Uganda's experience with epidemic surveillance, discussed in XTRAfrica's report on the end of its 2026 Ebola outbreak, illustrates why reliable diagnostic supply matters. XTRAfrica's earlier coverage of Uganda's Ebola recoveries likewise described the role of laboratory capacity during a regional health response.
The wider investment rationale is consistent with the Africa CDC's February 2026 declaration, which identifies local production of diagnostics and other health products as a continental priority. But an industrial-policy goal and a functioning consumer supply chain are not interchangeable.
For this project, the next measurable milestones are verified pricing in pharmacies, documented kit distribution, evidence of regulatory compliance and independently traceable regional deliveries.
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