No fewer than 10 pharmaceutical companies have been granted both naira and foreign exchange facilities by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to assist in boosting local production of drugs in the country.
This was seen in a communique from a meeting held by Central bank and the Banker’s committee—comprising majorly Chief Executive Officer’s (CEOs) of banks—to deliberate on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the banking system in particular and the economy at large.
A total of N1.1 trillion Nigeria has been set aside in the form of an N100 billion intervention in healthcare loans to pharmaceutical companies, health practitioners intending to expand and build capacity, and N1 trillion loans to boost local manufacturing and production across critical sectors.
This is a part of the N3.5 trillion fiscal stimulus in which the apex bank unveiled to ameliorate the pains arising from the health and economic crisis caused by coronavirus outbreak
The pharmaceutical companies that would-be beneficiaries to this funding facility include, Emzor, Fidson, Swiss Pharma, Neimeth, Orange Drugs, Dana Pharma, Sagar, Unique Pharma, May&Baker and GSK, the CBN said in the memo while noting that the list might not be limited to the ten companies
This would help them in procurement raw materials and equipment to support in the local production, following the shortages of drug import from China and India as well as the move by many other countries to export of drugs and medical supplies, due to the coronavirus pandemic which has disrupted global supply chains, the memo reads.
