Stable Naira Crucial To Achieving 70% Local Drug Production – Manufacturers

Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN) has urged the federal government to fortify the naira against the dollar, in order to achieve 70 per cent local drug production in Nigeria.

They made the call a few days after President Bola Tinubu signed the executive order. The main goal of the executive order was to boost local drug production to 70 per cent.

The chairman, Local Organising Committee, (LOC) of the 7th Edition of Nigeria Pharma Manufacturers Expo, (NPME), Pharm Patrick Ajah, in an interview with LEADERSHIP, said the government will need to do certain things in order to achieve 70 per cent local drug production, adding that the recent fluctuations in the value of the Naira have made it difficult for companies to plan and invest.

“This is one major reason why multinational companies are leaving. It’s not the fear of subsidy removal, it’s because we have tampered with the currency. For instance, some investors brought in money to come and build a facility at the exchange rate of N316, and now they are remitting the money at N1,500. Many companies will not be able to cope. So fixing our exchange rate is going to be the one single thing that will immediately reset everything,” Ajah posited.

For smooth implementation of the executive order, Ajah also recommended the need for the government to follow up and make sure it’s done. “Since the signing of the executive order, nobody has engaged us in the process. Let me be honest, if the government does not ensure implementation of this, it can turn out to be negative. Many companies are waiting for the implementation. If the implementation doesn’t start soon, there will be serious scarcity of essential drugs as many of us are not importing, because we all want to benefit from the executive order. I hope the government gets to understand this, to avoid scarcity of essential drugs,” he appealed.

In the same vein, the executive secretary of PMG-MAN, Pharm Frank Muonemeh who provided more insights into the issues said Nigeria is already on the right track, with local manufacturers currently producing 40 per cent of the medicines used in the country. He highlighted partnerships between state government and local companies as a positive development, while calling for more government support,similar to that which has been provided to other sectors, such as cement and petroleum.

Speaking on the upcoming 2024 Edition of NPME, with the theme “40 Years of Advocacy: Fostering Partnership and Innovation to Unlock the Pharma Manufacturing Value Chain in Nigeria, Central & West Africa”, the executive secretary said their ambitious goal is to drive Nigeria towards self-sufficiency and medicine security, aiming to reverse the country’s dependency on imported medicine.

He said the7th NPME 2024 is the flagship expo, the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing exhibition in Central and West Africa, organised by PMG-MAN and partners, GPE India. “Experts predict that the Nigerian pharma space would be the next frontier for smart investment and trade, with great but largely untapped potential to contribute to national and regional development. To unlock this potential, the group organised a biennial Pharma Expo and Exhibition, focusing on the latest pharma technology, machinery, equipment, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), and showcasing locally manufactured medicines, diagnostics, and consumables,” he further explained.

Muonemeh said the theme was chosen to enable robust and comprehensive stakeholder engagement in the industry, adding that, “It focuses on positioning the industry for global competitiveness and becoming the pharma manufacturing hub for Africa. Given the exit of multinationals and the rising cost of medicines due to macro and microeconomic dynamics in Nigeria, this theme is timely and forward-thinking. It calls for new strategies to achieve self-sufficiency in medicine production, emphasising partnerships and innovative approaches to unlock the pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain.”