At a time a few multinationals are exiting Nigeria, others are seeing opportunities in the Africa’s largest economy as Nutrify, a subsidiary of Tolaram Group, which invested in the nutraceutical health sector six months ago plans to establish multi-million Naira factory in Nigeria.
The ambitious idea, according to Ehimen Oaikhena, regional sales manager for Nutrify Nigeria, a wellness brand is not only to meet the increasing demand for its products in Africa but also create jobs and boost the local economy.
Oaikhena who spoke to BusinessDay last weekend in Lagos at the Young Pharmacists Group, YPG’s wellness retreat organised in collaboration with Nutrify did not say where the factory will be sited.
The decision is also informed by research, understanding Nigeria’s nutraceutical health market and volume, understanding Nigeria’s regulatory environment, and the availability of raw materials.
Like crude oil business where Nigeria exports crude and imports refined products, Nutrify presently sources its raw material from Nigeria and from other African countries but processes them into products in Asia. Oaikhena said the local production, which the company plans in the next two years will make its products more affordable considering the exchange rate and other logistics of importation.
“We source most of the raw materials in Nigeria and Africa. The plan in the next two years is to have the supplements produced here in Nigeria”
The regional sales manager said the firm’s nutraceutical products sold across Africa presently has about 65 percent local content as there are some raw materials that are available outside Nigerians shores. He however said the company plans to improve the local content to 90 percent.
Observing that the gaps in the health supplements market are affordability and appropriate drugs, Oaikhena said Nutrify is closing the gaps as it has strong R&D team. “We have been on this journey of the plan to produce supplements for about 5 years as we did not just wake up to start manufacturing”, he said, stating that the firm understands the market.
On the wellness retreat, he said it is to create awareness on the preventive approach to health by educating pharmacists and consumers on certified nutraceutical products. He said Nutrify formulations are NAFDAC approved with ISO certifications.
Speaking during the panel session, Tolulope Ajayi, Chairman, Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, Lagos Chapter described the retreat as knowledge acquisition and building capacity in pharmacists who are health care providers who are not businessmen and women but gate keepers to the healthcare delivery system.
The pharmacists hold it as a duty to provide accurate information about the medication and nutreaciticals that consumers are exposed to daily, he said .
According to Ajayi., the way forward globally is preventive health care approach as healthcare is not so much about the curative. However, he said it is important that citizens get empowered and not just take everything that is presented to them in the name of herbal products or nutreaciticals.
Tolulope Ajayi regretted the way medications are hawked n garages and inside buses. He therefore called on the health authorities to step up their regulatory functions to checkmate this menace as drugs are not articles of trade and money making business but protecting the health of citizens.
In her comment, Abimbola Adebakin who believes in the axiom that prevention is better than cure said that with technology and AI, Africa can discover preventive health solutions, stating that power can come to Africa when innovations on health are discovered, she said.
She said in Africa lies the solution to global health issues. According to her, the continent can combine its traditional method of medicine with how AI can make discovery of medicines cheaper, to increasing the success rate of discovered medication from 15 percent to 70 percent.
Nmesoma Ohakwe, State coordinator PSN-YPG, Lagos advised consumers to always ask for licenses of pharmacists and consult them when necessary.
