By Okey Akpa

Continued from yesterday

The implications extend well beyond the factory floor. Every additional stage of production retained within Nigeria strengthens domestic value chains, supports local enterprise, creates skilled employment and retains more economic value within the national economy. It also strengthens the productive base by reinforcing the network of suppliers, technical services, logistics, quality systems and specialised skills upon which competitive manufacturing depends.

This is ultimately about more than import substitution. A stronger manufacturing base, more capable regulatory institutions, expanding clinical research and a growing pool of skilled professionals are positioning Nigeria to participate more competitively in regional and global value chains. The opportunity is not simply to produce more for domestic consumption, but to build industries capable of supplying wider markets while contributing to Africa’s growing role in the development, manufacture and distribution of health products.

Seen in that light, the reforms are strengthening more than the health sector. They are reinforcing Nigeria’s industrial base and creating conditions in which healthcare can become an increasingly important driver of manufacturing, innovation, investment and long-term economic growth.

Human capital as economic capital
No industry outperforms the quality of the people who sustain it. Manufacturing depends on skilled technicians and engineers. Research depends on scientists. Strong health systems depend on doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and thousands of other professionals whose knowledge determines the quality of care, the pace of innovation and the competitiveness of the industries that depend upon them.

Investment in health workers is therefore more than a social obligation. It is an investment in productive capacity.

That understanding has become one of the defining features of the current reforms. Alongside investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and service delivery, equal emphasis has been placed on expanding Nigeria’s human resources for health. More than 78,000 frontline health workers have already been retrained, with a target of 120,000. Recruitment has expanded across federal tertiary health institutions, while the National Health Fellowship is preparing a new generation of public sector leaders drawn from all 774 local government areas.

The same long-term thinking is evident in the approach to health workforce mobility. Rather than treating international migration solely as a retention challenge, the reforms recognise it as a structural feature of an increasingly interconnected labour market. The policy response has therefore focused on expanding the pipeline of skilled professionals, improving working conditions, strengthening career pathways and promoting ethical international recruitment.

The economic implications extend well beyond healthcare. A larger and better-trained workforce strengthens productivity, supports scientific research, reinforces domestic manufacturing and expands the technical capabilities upon which higher-value industries depend. It also strengthens Nigeria’s ability to participate more competitively in regional and global markets for health services, research and innovation.

Viewed in that light, investment in health workers is simultaneously an investment in healthcare, education, industrial capability and long-term economic growth. Human capital is not simply an outcome of development. It is one of the principal means by which development is achieved.

Building capability for the long term
Industrial development ultimately depends on more than investment. It depends on the capabilities that allow an economy to design, test, regulate, manufacture and continuously improve what it produces. Countries that lead in healthcare do so not simply because they manufacture more products, but because they have built the scientific, regulatory and institutional capacity that sustains innovation over time.
That is where the reforms are now placing greater emphasis.

Domestic manufacturing alone is not enough. Equal emphasis has been placed on strengthening the scientific, regulatory and institutional capabilities that underpin a competitive health industry. Clinical trial capacity is expanding, positioning Nigeria to play a larger role in the development and evaluation of new medicines, vaccines and medical technologies. Investments in genomics are strengthening disease surveillance, while broadening the country’s scientific capabilities. At the same time, regulatory reforms are reinforcing confidence in the quality, safety and integrity of Nigerian health products.

The reforms are also strengthening collaboration among universities, research institutions, industry and government. Those partnerships shorten the distance between scientific discovery and commercial application, encourage technology transfer and expand the innovation ecosystem upon which advanced manufacturing increasingly depends. The objective is not merely to adopt technologies developed elsewhere, but steadily to build the capacity to generate, adapt and commercialise knowledge within Nigeria.

These investments will yield their greatest returns over time. As manufacturing expands, the countries that capture the greatest economic value will be those able to innovate, meet international standards and compete in higher-value segments of global production. The capabilities now being built are therefore investments not only in today’s health sector, but in Nigeria’s future competitiveness.

For that reason, the reforms are creating assets whose significance extends well beyond healthcare. Stronger institutions, better science and more effective regulation will increasingly shape Nigeria’s ability to compete in knowledge-intensive industries, deepen industrialisation and sustain long-term economic growth.

Conclusion

Healthcare reforms will always be judged first by their impact on people’s lives. Better access to care, stronger primary healthcare, lower maternal and child mortality, improved financial protection and greater public confidence remain the standards against which any health system should ultimately be assessed.

The experience of the past three years suggests, however, that reforms on this scale can achieve more than better health outcomes. By creating a more coherent health system, attracting investment, expanding domestic manufacturing, strengthening human capital and building scientific and institutional capability, they are also contributing to the foundations of long-term economic growth.

That is an important lesson for a country pursuing the ambition of building a one-trillion-dollar economy. Economic transformation depends not only on sound macroeconomic management, but also on the strength of the productive sectors that underpin it. Increasingly, healthcare is demonstrating that it can be one of those sectors.

That may prove to be one of the least anticipated consequences of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s healthcare reforms. Conceived to improve the health of Nigerians, they are also beginning to reshape the productive capacity of the economy itself. Those are the collateral consequences of reform—and they deserve to be recognised as part of its enduring legacy.

Concluded.
Akpa, PhD, is the Managing Director of SKG Pharma, He is also the former Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Group of Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria and the current President of West African Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (WAPMA). He is based in Lagos.