Merit Ibe

Chief executives of top pharmaceutical manufacturing companies under the auspices of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group-Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN) are seeking N300 billion bailout from the Federal Government. The executives said the fund would enable them re-position the pharmaceutical industry better in anticipation of the flag off of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. In a chat in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer of Biotec Pharmaceutical Limited and a chieftain of PMG-MAN, Dr. Eugene Okorie, explained that the country’s signing of the continental free trade area agreement would put the country’s economy on the edge, especially from the pharmaceutical sector. 

He said the sector is in dire need of funding, saying N300 billion bailout fund is needed very urgently to salvage the pharmaceutical industry if Nigeria does not want to be dubbed: ‘dumping ground’ for all sorts of illicit drugs coming into the country via the seaports, airport and land borders.

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He noted that the N300 billion bailout fund from government is the only leeway for the pharmaceutical industry to compete effectively during the take-off of the AfCFTA.

According to him, it will allow the industry to develop optimally and also  export the local manufactured drugs. The drug manufacturer explained that the N300 billion bailout funding is also needed to support the development of the country’s pharmaceutical manufacturing companies to assist them engage in the mass production of large quantity of drugs since the industry is highly capital intensive for drug manufacturers.

Speaking further, Okorie stated that the country’s pharmaceutical sector currently employs over three million Nigerians. While the value chain in the industry can employ more than another 20 million, adding that the N300 billion bailout is a necessity in all ramifications, Okorie said.