Policy instability, FX crisis as bane of pharmaceutical sector

High production costs, excessive taxes, inconsistent policies, lack of capital, inflation and limited access to foreign exchange have been identified as significant challenges militating against the local production of pharmaceutical products in Nigeria.

The challenges, stakeholders said, have led to manufacturers transitioning to third-party distribution models – a move that would not sustain the sector.

An associate professor, Euclid University, Dr Ukamaka Okafor, said this during a review of a public presentation –Nigerian Logistics and Supply Chain Industry 2023 Report – which was put together by the African Centre for Supply Chain (ACSC).
Shedding light on operational hurdles, government incentives in Nigeria, and the restricted availability of raw materials, notwithstanding the challenges of the lack of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing plants, she said it was high time Africa woke up from slumber to promote local manufacturing of medicines to prevent supply chain disruptions.

The don said reliance on imports, inadequate local production, financial constraints, corruption, lack of competent human resources, distribution challenges, infrastructure and regulatory inadequacies challenges must be addressed.

According to her, the challenges undermine the efforts of the Nigerian government to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets and also explore different supply chain strategies and risk mitigation measures.

Speaking on the theme, ‘Shifting Trends in Pharma Supply Chain for the New Normal: Manufacturing Challenges, Distribution Consideration, Patient Access’, Managing Director, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Fidelis Ayebae, said there was a need for leaders to begin to formulate strategies along the new emerging trends to stay afloat.

Represented by the firm’s Deputy Managing Director, Biola Adebayo, he said the manufacturing sector was in a state of dilemma, calling on the need for businesses’ resilience amid uncertainty.

The Director-General of ACSC, Dr Obiora Madu, while presenting the report, said the shifting trends are what one must do in the new normal since most companies, especially in the pharmaceutical sector are still recovering from COVID-19.