NIGERIA – The Lagos Business School Sustainability Centre (LBSSC) and Bloom Public Health, in partnership with some Nigerian regulatory bodies have launched a study to map out the pharmaceutical supply chain in Nigeria.
The objectives of the study are to identify the value-adding activities required in the sector, identify the main performance points and map the market size of each value-adding activity so as to attract investors.
The Pharmacists’ Council of Nigeria (PCN), National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) and PharmaAccess Group, who are incorporated in the study, all aim at adding value to the citizenry and the larger African market.
Speaking on the importance of the study, Dr. Franklin Ngwu, director, LBS Sustainability Centre, remarked that it was important that Nigerian industries are empowered to deliver value to citizens and the larger African market.
He emphasized that the study would provide evidence-based information and recommendations to drive the much-needed growth in the Nigerian pharmaceutical sector.
According to chief executive officer, Bloom Public Health, Prof. Chimezie Anyakora, the study comes at a critical time in Nigeria when the pharmaceutical sector is going through suppression.
With a population of 201 million (2019, World Bank), Nigeria is the largest and fastest-growing economy in Africa, with the highest disease burden in the sub-Saharan region.
The Nigerian pharmaceutical sector keeps growing at a rate of 9 per cent each year and is expected to reach $4 billion by 2026 according to McKinsey.
This will arguably be the biggest pharmaceutical manufacturing blueprint in Africa once completed.
“The Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Value Chain Mapping by Bloom Public Health in conjunction with the LBS, when fully implemented, would become the most significant thing to happen to the Pharmacy space in Africa,” Dr Obi Adigwe, Director General of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD).
President of the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSSA), Dr Anthony Ikeme, bemoaned Nigeria’s perennial dependence on foreign countries for its pharmaceutical raw materials, adding that such a scenario makes the country powerless in the scheme of things.
Throwing her support to the project, CEO of Emzor, Dr Stella Okoli, lauded the initiative, saying it is a welcome development that will augur well for the Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturing atmosphere.
According to Goldstein market intelligence, Africa is the only pharmaceutical market where genuinely high growth is still achievable.
Africa’s pharmaceutical industry jumped to US$28.56 billion in 2017 from just US$5.5 billion a decade earlier. That growth is continuing at a rapid pace and it is predicted the market will be worth US$56 billion to US$70 billion by 2030.
