Need to Renew Interest in Pharma Manufacturing Sector
As a sine qua non for economic growth, experts at the fifth-anniversary celebration of St Racheal’s Pharma, and the official launch of St Racheal’s Azithromycin recently held in Lagos State, harped on the need to renew interest in the manufacturing sector
The manufacturing sector is the hub of a vibrant national economy. To be relevant, the sector must have the ability to harness the various available raw materials locally, process and transform them into marketable finished or partly finished goods through the use of human capital and other agents of production.
The finished goods and services thus generated contribute meaningfully to the national Gross Domestic Production (GDP) and generate income and employment opportunities for the citizenry of that nation.
Manufacturing Challenges in Nigeria
Nigeria’s manufacturing sector is faced with many challenges, ranging from near nonexistent power, inadequate funding, insecurity, poor infrastructures, huge interest rate, unfriendly regulations, lack of raw materials locally, irregular taxes etc. to poor business development strategies.
The challenges faced by manufacturers are probably best put by Frank Jacobs, former president of the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), in remarks to the media in April 2018; “A situation where you generate your power for production does not make you competitive, because whatever is produced in this country is produced at a higher cost when compared to other parts of the world.
“The same goes for the transportation system as we still move our goods via roads, even heavy-duty goods. Such goods which should go by rail, lack enough rail lines to carry them. There is a need to develop the transportation sector to the point where it can support the manufacturing sector and also support the economy.”
For more light on these challenges, a report on the Nigerian manufacturing sector by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2014 put them as follows: inadequate and epileptic power supply, high taxes, poor infrastructure, and supply variability of rain-dependent agricultural inputs.
Challenges in Manufacturing Pharmaceuticals
Medicine insecurity and challenges in the medicine supply chain within Nigeria have been long-standing problems in Nigeria’s healthcare system. The pharmaceutical sector in Nigeria cannot meet the enormous demand for medicines due to its poor local manufacturing capacity. Hence, Nigeria continues to rely almost entirely on other countries, especially in Asia, for the supply of its medicines and health products.
In Nigeria, the high cost of pharmaceutical manufacturing, lack of supportive infrastructure for the regulatory compliance of pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, poor regulatory policies, limited access to affordable and reasonable funding, and very poor power infrastructure are among the many factors responsible for the poor local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, which have made it difficult for Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector to compete globally and take part in global tenders.
These listed challenges have paved way for the booming importation of drugs and other pharmaceuticals, both authentic and counterfeit.
The unfair competition by imported products and multinational companies is one of the biggest challenges in the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria, which has also crippled local manufacturing in the sector. The best you get is that most pharmaceutical companies produce their product outside Nigeria in places like India and China, and only do the packaging in Nigeria.
In addition to that, there is a need to standardise several herbal-origin drugs circulating in the country. Even after so many years, the government is unable to control the illegal importation and sale of fake substandard goods.
The shortage of genuine drug products is also a big challenge. The major reasons behind that are the shortage of trained pharmacists and the lack of production of pharmaceutical-grade raw materials in bulk. All these challenges form the base of why experts at the anniversary ceremony are calling for the renaissance of the manufacturing sector across the board.
Call for Manufacturing Renaissance Leveraging Local Herbs
In his keynote address, Imo State Deputy Governor, Prof. Placid Njoku, noted that Nigeria,
with its huge population, depends on India, China, Germany, the United States, Pakistan and the Netherlands for 70 per cent of its drug needs, spending billions of naira.
He lamented that despite a large pharmaceutical subsector with at least 100 manufacturing companies, Nigeria caters for only 30 per cent of local medical needs, which leads to high importation of drugs and exposure to counterfeit drugs.
He said the country imports over N200 billion worth of malaria drugs and about N600 billion worth of antibiotics every year, adding that in one quarter of 2021, it imported about N395 billion worth of antibiotics to battle diseases associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, “the total amount the country spends on importing drugs exposes it to international drug risks, while essentially funding the pharmaceutical industry of other countries across the world.”
He said “there are many local herbs that could serve as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), which make up the majority of the over 70 per cent of imported drugs” while urging local manufacturing companies to leverage it and make the country a less import-dependent country.
Leveraging AfCFTA
AfCFTA, (African Continental Free Trade Area”, is a free trade area encompassing most of Africa. It was established in 2018 by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which has 43 parties and another 11 signatories, making it the largest free-trade area by several member states, after the World Trade Organisation, and the largest in population and geographic size, spanning 1.3 billion people across the world’s second-largest continent.
Also speaking, the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, May & Baker Nigeria, Patrick Ajah, lamented the major challenges of pharmaceutical manufacturers, which include poor power supply, as over N250 million is spent monthly on power generation.
He also listed high-interest rates, regulations,
policies, extortion of companies by govern- ment agencies and poor infrastructure.
He said the country needs to find other ways to participate in the global economy, especially as it has signed the AfCFTA, asserted, adding that local pharmaceutical production could help the vulnerable population gain access to quality medicine, as seen during COVID-19.
According to Ajah, “there are about 115 local pharmaceutical manufacturers taking care of the drug needs of less than 40 per cent of the country’s population, compared to India which has about 3,000 registered pharmaceutical companies and over 10,500 manufacturing sites.
“If we don’t build our manufacturing sector, other countries will come and claim it from us by building their facility and taking the money back to develop their countries,” he warned.
Advocacy for Favourable Government Policies
In his remarks, the Former Lagos State Governorship Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Jimi Agbaje, advocated for favourable government policies and enabling environment to make not only the pharmaceutical sector but also other sectors of the economy, thrive and prosper in the country.
Sharing his experience of over three decades in the manufacturing sector, Agbaje lamented the high cost of selfgenerating power and its impact on the collapse of his manufacturing company.
According to him, “When we started, the first challenge we faced was that we were not permitted by NAFDAC to produce drugs on small scales and conglomeration as it’s done in India, this means we have to produce on a large scale.
“And we all know what it means to buy a big land for manufacturing in Lagos with all the taxes and double taxation. So Lagos was not on the table. We eventually got some acres of land at Otta in Ogun State to start.
“At a time, there was no power in the area. We had to buy a transformer ourselves when it was eventually taken over by the power distribution company. After they took over the transformer, they now connected other houses in the environment to the transformer, which eventually led to the breakdown of the transformer.
“For a complete year, that is 365 days, we run our production on the generator. You can imagine the impact this had on our business and its eventual collapse.”
He ended by tasking the government to review some of his policies that are killing the manufacturing industry in Nigeria, especially regarding licensing, power and taxes.
Leveraging Technology
Also speaking, Microsoft Country Manager for Nigeria and Ghana, Mrs Olatomiwa Williams, said Nigeria needed to leverage technology to drive the manufacturing sector, as it will help drive sustainability and create jobs for the teeming youths.
She urged the pharmaceutical industry to adopt technology tools such as Artificial Intelligent (AI), analytics and cloud for data to drive the manufacturing process, while also employing more hands with vast knowledge of the digital space and investing in digital technology.
Anniversary Message
Earlier, while delivering his remarks, the Chairperson of the Occasion, Mr Olumide Osunsina, represented by his wife, Mrs Desiree Osunsina broke down the theme of the anniversary, ‘Manufacturing Renaissance, A must for Prosperity in Nigeria’. According to her, “Manufacturing is simply making and producing something on a large scale using machinery, while ‘renaissance’ is a revival, or a rebirth or renewed interest in something.
“So when we talk about manufacturing renaissance, we are looking at how we can renew the interest in large-scale production in Nigeria because we are talking about manufacturing.”
She also congratulated the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of St Racheal Pharma, Pharm. Akinjide Adeosun for nurturing the company from year zero to achieving the five years feat.
According to her, “Five years is such a big deal. For a company to grow from its first year to five years in this current Nigerian economy and still standing, it is deserving of a loud ovation.”
CEO’s Remark
In his remark, the CEO of St Racheal Pharma, Pharm. Akinjide Adeosun gave thanks to Almighty God, his Wife and his Children who have always stood by him since the inception of the company.
He illustratively took the audience through his career growth, and encounter with the rare call of fate, which led him to study pharmacy at the University of Ibadan, against his father’s desire for him to study medicine.
In a comic presentation style, Adeosun encouraged the audience with his personal life experiences to not be scared to set a goal that is scary and unrealistic as his, whose goal of driving a brand new car as a fresh graduate later came to pass against all odds.
With his career which spans over two decades at GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, Africa, which also occasioned him to be well travelled across the globe, Adeosun encouraged the audience to always believe in the process and learn as much as they can when growing, so they can be able to stand on their own in future.
He, therefore, urged the audience to endeavour to work towards conquering their fears, as it is the only way they can grow faster in life.
The unfair competition by imported products and multinational companies is one of the biggest challenges in the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria, which has also crippled local manufacturing in the sector.The best you get is that most pharmaceutical companies produce their product outside Nigeria in places like India and China, and only do the packaging in Nigeria
Highpoint
The high point of the occasion was the official launch of St Racheal’s Azithromycin tablets and the presentation of awards to some of the clients of the company who have sustained patronage with St Racheal Pharma through the five years of existence. The St Racheal Awards were presented to, Prime Medical Consultants, Portharcourt, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Bydow Pharmacy, Ogun State Government, and StarSpeed Logistics.