Nigeria targets March 2024 for local production of APIs 

• Emzor blazes the trail with E13.85m funding from European Investment Bank
Nigeria may take delivery of its first locally manufactured Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) by March 2024 with 13.85 million Euros funding from European Investment Bank (EIB).

APIs are the active components in a pharmaceutical drug that produce the required effect on the body to treat a condition.

Until now, local manufacturers of pharmaceutical products still import 100 per cent of their APIs from China and India, and it is estimated that Nigeria loses over N1 trillion yearly due to this situation.      

But Chairman, Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, Emeka Okoli, during a tour of the factory at Sagamu, Ogun State, said the API plant, which is currently being built in the company’s Emzor Campus in Sagamu, Ogun State, would be ready by February 2024. Okoli said the factory would be dedicated to production of antimalarial APIs via tech transfer in collaboration with a technical partner with a planned capacity of 400MCT yearly.

Okoli said Emzor produces antimalarial Finished Pharmaceutical Products (FPPs) and is targeting API production as part of its growth strategy, backward integration and supply chain security. Also, he said this will help in part, to pioneer the mass production of APIs in Africa, ensure commodity security and access to quality products across the continent.”

Okoli said Emzor has partnered with an Indian company, Mangalam Drugs & Organics Limited, a world-renowned World Health Organisation (WHO)/United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved producer of antimalarial APIs, intermediate and other specialty chemicals. He said Emzor has already signed an agreement with Mangalam, who will advise and manage the implementation of the project as a tech transfer partner. “

He said other Emzor partners in this project include: European Investment Bank, who has setup a dedicated fund for the development of API manufacturing in Africa and also, API for Africa (APIFA), a non-profit organisation championing API production in Africa and a thought partner providing access to financing, insights and support for access to markets.

Okoli said the company’s fourth factory named ‘Emzor Manufacturing Campus’ seated on a 60-hectare site in an industrial zone on Lagos -Ibadan/Abeokuta Benin interchange in Sagamu, Ogun State, is currently housing an Oral Solid Dosage (OSD) Plant, Cephalosporin Plant, Intravenous Fluids (IVF) Plant, Penicillin Plant, Gas Plant and other support utilities.

“The factory at present, produces close to 20 billion tablets yearly. The API Plant, which will be completed by the first quarter of next year is being funded with a loan grant of 13.85 million Euros by the European Development Bank. This grant formed about fifty four percent of the entire financial implication of the Plant construction,” he said.

EIB’s Investment Officer, Project Finance Division, Corporate Finance and Global Activities Department, Arthur Delor, described the API Project undertaken by Emzor as a new dawn in development and growth of Africa’s pharmaceutical industry.

Delor, during a special tour of the Pharmaceutical Company’s expansive factory in Sagamu, Ogun State towards EIB Funding Support for the company, said: “The Emzor’s API Project is a trailblazer in Africa as well as a new dawn in the development of pharmaceutical industry in the content. It is a great leap in the sector and the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. It will ensure production of high-quality products and its affordability in Africa.”

The API Project will indeed make a great impact and will resoundingly facilitate development of standards in the industry.”

Speaking further, the EIB representative declared: “The bank is glad to contribute to the project. This is because it will support global development. We believe that it is time for developing countries to start to be developed. Africa should be less dependent on importation, in this regard, local manufacturing is one of the best ways to take Africa out of its current challenges. Africa as a place should start to contribute to global development, not just to depend on others and our choice of Emzor is very appropriate to pioneer this project in Africa.

“Emzor is well established and well positioned to make Africa, especially Nigeria a hub of quality products and supply chain. Emzor has a legacy of efficiency and good standards. It is a pharmaceutical industry we believe and know with adequate facilities and resources to make big changes in Africa’s pharmaceutical development and growth.”

In his remark at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of APIFA, Frankline Keter, said the project as an opportunity for the Kenya based organisation to achieve its main aim and objectives, saying: “At APIFA, our main aim is to facilitate the local production of APIs and other health products and technologies (HPTs) in sub-Saharan Africa. We do this by working with a multitude of critical stakeholders from the private sector, public sector, research institutes, and civil society, to address a major market challenge, the lack of not only API manufacturing capacity in sub-Saharan Africa, but also affordable medicines.

“It is a great privilege to witness this ceremony. This is a big deal in Africa and Emzor is setting the pace. This project will not only boost African Continental Free Trade, but also encourage as well as support local producers to invest.  What is left for us is to celebrate and congratulate ourselves for this great season in Africa.”

Also, speaking at the event, the Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries, Dr. Stella Okoli, encouraged the government to do more in helping local manufacturers.
“Government has a lot to do in supporting local manufacturers. It is a fact that the prosperity of the nation resides with local production. This is how the dwindling economy can be successfully revived.  As a company, we are playing our part and we shall continue to do so. From day one, we have determined not to let our country down. “We are here to do the right thing in the pharmaceutical industry, producing high quality drugs. And we are advancing to the next level, by pioneering API manufacturing in Africa,” she said.