From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has exposed pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria to the great opportunities and potential that are abound in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with an encouragement to tap into opportunities.
It explained that AfCFTA is a free trade area encompassing most of Africa, and was aimed to reduce tariffs among members and covers policy areas such as trade facilitation and services, as well as regulatory measures such as sanitary standards and technical barriers to trade
The Agency specifically advised the pharmaceutical companies to develop quality products and services that would help them stand the competition and possibly dominate the international pharmaceutical market.
NAFDAC Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, in a statement noted that NAFDAC
Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, gave the advice in her submissions at 50th anniversary of Daily-Need Industries Limited in Lagos, and she encouraged the pharmaceutical companies to invade the African market with quality products that can be approved in the different countries through continental reliance among regulators.
The NAFDAC boss, however, reminded them that Research and Development (R&D) is an important creativity and innovation that several companies would need to incorporate into the manufacturing environment, thereby, making products that would be acceptable across different divides in Africa.
She reassured that NAFDAC was committed to supporting innovations and recognize the pharmaceutical industry through the five-year exclusivity that was introduced to local manufacturers in 2019 for manufacturing and marketing if the company can meet in-country market demand.
She said that creativity in manufacturing can be shown through targeted drive to achieve pre-qualification of the facility and product, noting that it can also be done with the goal to get certification from WHO or as part of preparation for global trade through collaborative registration and reliance among regulators.
‘’This is being underscored today because of the AfCFTA agreement that allows free trade among African Countries. Nigerian pharmaceutical companies must be ready for trading their products across the continent with quality products that can be approved in the different countries through continental reliance among regulators,’’ she said.
She appreciated the strides that Daily-Need has made over the last 50 years, and expressed confidence that the diligence, strategic leadership and response to challenges through improvement in the manufacturing premise with continuous quality monitoring will dovetail into a future where innovation and creativity would be embraced for drug security, health security and subsequently, Universal Health Coverage (UHC).