…As Nigeria targets regional pharma hub

The Federal Government has indicated plans to extend the Presidential Executive Order supporting local pharmaceutical manufacturing by another two years as stakeholders push for sustained policies, investment and regulatory reforms to strengthen Nigeria’s medicine security and position the country as a regional pharmaceutical manufacturing hub.

The indication was given at the 8th Nigeria Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Expo (NPME) 2026, held on September 28 and 29 in Lagos, where manufacturers, regulators, investors, policymakers and development partners renewed calls for stronger local production and improved access to the African market.

Organised by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMGMAN), the two-day expo attracted more than 200 exhibitors and focused on advancing regional manufacturing, localisation and Africa’s pharmaceutical and life sciences sovereignty.

Declaring the expo open, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to expanding domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing as a pathway to medicine security, healthcare resilience and economic development.

Salako stressed the need to strengthen capacity across the pharmaceutical value chain, covering research and development, innovation, sourcing of active pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients, formulation, manufacturing and quality assurance.

He also called for increased investment in sophisticated areas of pharmaceutical production, including biologics, vaccines and other critical health technologies, while urging stronger regional cooperation to address regulatory barriers limiting access to African markets.

In his welcome address, the Chairman of NPME 2026, Pharm. Dr Patrick Ajah, said no nation could achieve sustainable greatness without manufacturing what its citizens consume, describing the pharmaceutical sector as fundamental to national development.

Ajah noted that the presence of high-level government officials, including the Minister of Education, represented a strong endorsement of PMGMAN’s mission.

He recalled that Nigeria’s drug consumption had historically been skewed towards imports, with about 70 per cent of medicines imported and 30 per cent produced locally, but said public-private collaboration over the past two years had begun to shift the balance.

He called on stakeholders to partner with PMGMAN to drive sustainable growth, stressing that the expo had created opportunities for businesses to expand across Nigeria, Africa and the global market.

The PMGMAN Chairman, Oluwatosin Jolayemi, said the Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturing sector was undergoing significant transformation, noting that the group now represents more than 200 local pharmaceutical manufacturing companies.

Jolayemi said the gains recorded by the industry must be protected through policy consistency and a predictable investment environment, particularly as manufacturers continue to contend with high energy and production costs, supply-chain challenges, port inefficiencies, limited access to long-term capital and market-access constraints.

He therefore appealed to the Federal Government to extend the Presidential Executive Order, whose current policy window is expected to expire in March 2027, by another two years to enable manufacturers deepen investments, expand production capacity and consolidate gains in medicine security.

According to him, Nigeria’s ambition to become a regional pharmaceutical manufacturing hub must be anchored on a competitive, scalable and resilient domestic manufacturing ecosystem.

He called for coordinated action among government, regulators, manufacturers, financiers and development partners to address structural barriers and move the sector beyond domestic production towards a globally competitive and regionally integrated manufacturing ecosystem.

The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Owan Enoh, represented by the Director of Chemical and Non-Pharmaceutical Industry, Mr John Okpe Oluwa, said the Federal Government was committed to moving Nigeria from an import-dependent market towards greater self-sufficiency under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

Enoh said the government was targeting 70 per cent domestic production of essential medicines while developing a resilient ecosystem capable of meeting the country’s medical needs.

He added that increased domestic manufacturing capacity would provide a foundation for expanding Nigeria’s pharmaceutical exports into West Africa and the wider African market through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The minister listed proposed interventions to support the target, including expanded tax exemptions, tariff waivers on raw materials and machinery, incentives for backward integration in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients, as well as dedicated pharmaceutical intervention funds.

He also said the government was working with regulatory agencies, including the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and NAFDAC, to ensure that locally manufactured pharmaceutical products meet international standards and become more competitive in export markets.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, disclosed that 37 local manufacturing facilities were undergoing retrofitting and construction upgrades to meet international standards.

Adeyeye said NAFDAC had made significant progress towards WHO global benchmarking and strengthened regulatory enforcement against non-compliant facilities, while reforms under the 5+5 policy had contributed to reducing drug importation and encouraging local manufacturers to improve their standards.

She stressed that Nigeria could not afford to reverse the gains recorded in local pharmaceutical manufacturing and urged the country to intensify efforts towards the production of vaccines and other critical health commodities.

At the continental level, the Director-General of the African Medicines Agency, Dr Delese Mimi Darko, called for stronger regulatory cooperation among African countries to accelerate access to quality-assured medicines and create a more integrated pharmaceutical market.

Darko said the African Medicines Agency was established to strengthen and coordinate national regulatory systems rather than replace them, adding that regulatory harmonisation would enable manufacturers to navigate African markets more efficiently.

She also stressed the need for African manufacturers to invest in research and development, technology transfer, skilled manpower, intellectual property and quality systems, arguing that localisation must go beyond simply producing medicines locally.

The Lagos State Government, represented by the Special Adviser on Health, Dr Kemi Ogunyemi, pledged continued support for the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, particularly in addressing energy costs, infrastructure, long-term financing, skilled manpower and regulatory predictability.

The expo attracted representatives of the European Union, UNICEF, European Investment Bank, Bank of Industry, IFC/World Bank, NAFDAC, Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, as well as other industry and academic institutions.

PMGMAN also unveiled its Industry Self-Regulation Quality Plus (ISRQ+) Project, which includes a five-year Medicine Security Industry Advocacy Strategy for 2027–2031, an ISRQ+ laboratory and a Data Repository and Learning Centre designed to strengthen industry intelligence, quality capacity, evidence-based advocacy and continuous learning.

The group said the various components of the initiative are expected to be commissioned progressively within the next six to 10 months.

As the 2026 edition came to a close, PMGMAN said its focus would shift towards translating the progress recorded in domestic manufacturing into a stronger, more integrated and competitive regional pharmaceutical ecosystem.

The closing remarks, delivered by Pharm. Frank Muonemeh, emphasised the need for stakeholders to remain committed to closing Nigeria’s medicine access gap and advancing greater medicine security across Africa.

PMGMAN also announced plans for the 9th Nigeria Pharma Manufacturers Expo in 2028, while preparations continue towards the commissioning of the ISRQ+ project.