FG Invests $1 Billion To Increase Domestic Pharma Manufacturing

THE Presidential Unlocking Healthcare Value-Chain Initiative's National Coordinator, Dr. Abdu Mukhtar, stated that the Federal Government had raised more than $1 billion to increase local medication production in Nigeria.

Mukhtar disclosed that in order to increase domestic medication production, the government has already obtained $1 billion from Afrexim Bank and is currently in negotiations to obtain further funding with the Bank of Industry, Africa Development Bank, and European Investment Bank.

According to him, over 32% of Nigeria's pharmaceutical imports come from India, 31% come from the Netherlands, and 5% come from China.

He says that since 99 percent of Nigeria's medical equipment are imported, local production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, is essential.

According to the National Coordinator, China accounts for around 36% of Nigeria's medical device imports, followed by Germany (10%), France (9%), and India (8%). Nigeria is classified as a GAVI country, meaning it does not produce vaccines.

Mukhtar lamented the fact that just 30% of medications are made domestically in the nation; manufacturers, on the other hand, spend enormous sums of foreign currency on API purchases in order to formulate medications.

He declared, “The local production of APIs will save the country foreign exchange and also boost local production of drugs.

“We have a very clear plan on how we can start the process.”

Mukhtar went on to say that in order to address these issues, President Bola Tinubu authorized the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain in October 2023. This initiative aims to bring billions of dollars in fresh investment into the country's healthcare delivery system.

“This will be achieved through time- bound and cross-ministerial. collaboration to restructure the healthcare ecosystem. The vision is to transform Nigeria into one of the world's key emerging hubs of health products and technologies manufacturing,” he said.

He said that the Initiative prioritized unmet needs, job development, strong demand, health security, and practical technology together with rapid time to impact and economic growth.

“We are prioritising local production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients for synthetic small molecule drugs and semi- synthetic small molecule drugs. We are also prioritising Malaria treatment, among others.”

He pointed out that the main obstacles to the industrial development of the industry are supply and demand as well as the supportive environment.

Mukhtar observed that although consumers are more inclined to favor and be prepared to pay for imported goods on the demand side, roughly 17% of products are either subpar or fabricated on the supply side, which undermines consumer confidence.

He continued, “Also, local manufacturers are increasingly obtaining quality certifications, but this is still considered a challenge as only four players are World Health Organisation-Good Manufacturing Practice certified.

“Enabling environment challenges include payment terms/rates that make repayment challenging; limited access to technology; manufacturing plant challenges and challenging trade environment which include import/export tariffs and limited access to raw materials, as a result of currency devaluation, among others.”

The main obstacles impeding the industrial development of the industry, he pointed out, are supply and demand as well as the supportive environment.