Afreximbank awards $.4m grant to aid pharmaceutical production

Pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in Africa rely heavily on the importation of APIs and excipients which are essential to formulate finished pharmaceutical products.

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has awarded US$400,000 in grant funding to the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) of Nigeria for the establishment of an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) plant.

The grant represents a significant proportion of the estimated funds required to implement the project.

Pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in Africa rely heavily on the importation of APIs and excipients which are essential to formulate finished pharmaceutical products. The Afreximbank grant will enable NIPRD to produce APIs locally in Nigeria. NIPRD’s API plant project is a critical step towards Nigeria’s pharmaceutical independence and self-sufficiency.

In addition, the project includes the development of a contextual training programme for pharmaceutical industry stakeholders, to ensure that key skills are acquired by industry players who represent the vanguard of essential medicines production on the continent.

Pharmaceutical

Afreximbank’s financial support to the NIPRD APIs plant project will not only catalyse the security of supply of medicines across Africa but also promote the industrialisation of the pharmaceutical sector and the consequent creation of jobs and income.

This landmark partnership between NIPRD and Afreximbank opens a new perspective in the development of collaborative projects aimed at providing contextual solutions to issues that emerge on the continent. This collaboration demonstrates a paradigm shift towards a new approach to improving sustainable access to healthcare in Africa, while stimulating socio-economic development.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.