Bank Targets Nigeria’s Medicine Crisis With Pharma Financing Drive

In a bid to confront Nigeria’s deepening medicine security challenge, The Alternative Bank (AltBank) has unveiled a financing intervention targeted at strengthening local pharmaceutical production and reducing the country’s overwhelming dependence on imported drugs.

The initiative comes against the backdrop of a global imbalance in healthcare supply chains, where Africa shoulders about a quarter of the global disease burden but imports nearly 97 percent of its pharmaceutical needs—a vulnerability that was sharply exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking in an interview with the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP) for the maiden edition of its Pharma Industry Digest, Group Executive at The Alternative Bank, Dr. Jekwu Ozoemene, said the urgency of building domestic capacity in drug production can no longer be delayed.

“Pharma and medicine security and sovereignty is essential to Nigeria’s survival,” Dr. Ozoemene stated. “We are positioned to partner with all stakeholders to make this a reality.”

The bank, operating as a fully licensed non-interest financial institution, is deploying what it describes as “patient capital” through asset-backed and risk-sharing financing structures tailored to the cash flow realities of pharmaceutical businesses. The model departs from conventional lending practices by aligning repayment structures with business performance rather than rigid schedules.

As part of its intervention, AltBank has rolled out a suite of healthcare-focused financing solutions, including stock financing, vendor and distributor financing, supply chain funding, and revolving drug funds. The institution is also advancing broader systemic support through health insurance frameworks, health management information systems, capital market access, and Banking-as-a-Service platforms, with rollout being deepened through partnerships with state health authorities.

Beyond addressing immediate supply gaps, the bank said the strategy is designed to deliver wider macroeconomic benefits, particularly by reducing pressure on Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves through import substitution. It also projects significant job creation across the pharmaceutical value chain, spanning research, manufacturing, logistics, and retail distribution.

Ozoemene stressed that the bank’s ambition extends beyond trade financing into building industrial capacity within the sector. “We don’t only want to finance the company that imports the most products.

“We also want to finance the industrial pharmacist establishing a WHO-compliant manufacturing plant to produce essential medicines locally. We want to back the researcher working on new formulations for malaria treatments or hypertension drugs designed specifically for the Nigerian demographic” he said.

According to him, the approach reflects the core philosophy of non-interest banking, which prioritises investments that generate measurable social impact alongside sustainable financial returns.

By directing capital towards healthcare infrastructure and pharmaceutical innovation, AltBank said it is positioning itself as a catalyst for both economic resilience and improved public health outcomes in Nigeria.