Investors see opportunities in Nigeria’s $700m pharma imports

Following the projection of experts at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) that pharmaceutical imports into the country will reach $700 million in 2018, investors have expressed interest in tapping into huge opportunities presented by this sector through establishment of manufacturing plants locally or ending medical tourism through treatment of Nigerian patients locally.

Gumel Farouk, partner, PwC, a multinational professional services firm, yesterday disclosed that imports of drugs and their ancillaries into the country, which stood at $400 million in 2012, were expected to increase by 75 percent to $700 million in 2018, stating that the situation could not even end medical tourism whose annual estimate stood between $500 million and $800 million.

According to Farouk, who spoke at the Nigeria-Pakistan Pharma Investment Forum in Lagos, there were currently 0.4 physicians per 1,000 patients; 1.605 nursing and midwifery staff members per 1,000 Nigerians; 0.105 pharmaceutical personnel per 1,000 citizens; as well as 0.095 pharmacists per 1,000 people in the country. He added that the Indian High Commission estimated that each of the 18,000 Nigerians who visited the country in 2012 spent an average of $15,000 in the country for medical treatment.

As a result of these indices, investors are excited about the viable opportunities present in the pharmaceutical sector and are hell-bent on taking maximum advantage of them. They point at Nigeria’s 174 million population with 2.8 percent annual growth potential, less than 55 percent capacity in the pharmaceutical industry, strong demand for improved management of infectious diseases in the country, among others, as reasons for investment excitement.

“Nigeria has a number of opportunities which we must continue to take advantage of. So far the local manufacturers account for only 35 percent of the market size. The nation’s economic transformation blueprint indicates Nigeria’s willingness to achieve the target of at least 75 percent of our drug needs by 2020,” said Ahmed Ibrahim Yakassai, chief executive officer, Pharmaplus Nigeria Limited, during the event which attracted investors from Pakistan.

“There is clear momentum in Nigeria for the development of the pharma industry with emphasis on building capacity for local production through strategic partnership and technology transfer. Nigeria has a very large market size and strong demand of medicines, especially in the management of infectious diseases, malaria and childhood diseases,” he said.

BusinessDay checks show that out of over 130 drug-makers in the country, only Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited has been able to secure the good manufacturing practice (GMP) of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is a necessary criterion for international competition. Experts attribute this to absence of sufficient petrochemical companies that are supposed to produce compounds needed to produce drugs, influx of imports, poor product packaging, among others.

Currently, Indian pharma firms supply 70 percent of raw materials, semi-finished and finished drugs consumed in Nigeria.

Following this trend, Ibrahim Waksu, one of the leaders of the Pakistani delegation, said 20 Pakistani pharma firms were already in the country and were seeking areas of partnership with local firms, adding that the two biggest gridlocks they encountered were inability to open bank accounts in the country as well as visa issuance issues.

The World Bank 2011 data put Nigeria’s birth rate at 5.49 births per woman. This compares with Kenya with 4.68 births per woman and South Africa with 2.42 births. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ranks the country ninth in under-5 mortality, while the CIA World Factbook puts the country’s death rate at 13.2 deaths per 1,000.

Muhammad Daleem Ashraf, Pakistani high commissioner to Nigeria, therefore advised Nigerians to look towards Pakistan in case of exigencies.

“We are not here to take patients away from Nigeria. We are here to treat patients in Nigeria. What we offer Nigeria are quality and affordable products,” he said.

Olumide Akintayo, president, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), said the Pakistani delegation was at the right place and time, stressing that Nigeria had the good human resources and rewarding business environment for investors.

Paul Orhii, director-general, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), who represented Onyebuchi Chukwu, health minister, assured investors of his agency’s support, stressing that the government had put in place the right health environment for Nigerians.

“I urge you not to be deterred in investing in Nigerian because it will give you access to the West African market,” said Orhii.

ODINAKA ANUDU