Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, has disclosed that the Federal Government is intensifying efforts to break Nigeria’s reliance on foreign pharmaceutical products.
Pharmaceutical experts have repeatedly warned that Nigeria’s healthcare system remains vulnerable, with about 70% of medicines consumed in the country being imported. However, Prof. Pate maintained that the Bola Tinubu administration is actively working to reverse the de-industrialization of Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, the Health Minister revealed that President Tinubu has launched the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain to transform Nigeria’s healthcare ecosystem. The initiative aims to position Nigeria as a global hub for health products through significant investments and increased private-sector participation.
“For decades, Nigeria has been systematically de-industrialized. We were dependent on imports of the most basic things like generic pharmaceuticals, which we could have produced; yes, we did have some local manufacturers, but they struggled. They struggled because the policy environment was not structured,” Pate said.
“This administration tries to address it head-on, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu initiated an effort to unlock the healthcare value chain, what we call PVAC, with policy reforms, the executive order to reduce the tariffs on raw materials and manufacturing equipment,” he added.
The minister further explained that the government’s “Nigeria First” policy, which promotes local content, is designed to encourage patronage of domestically produced drugs and strengthen the medical sector.
Prof. Pate noted that these initiatives are already yielding results, with increased investor interest in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry.
“Recently, we commissioned a manufacturing plant in Sagamu, Ogun State, and several others have now started setting up. One here in Abuja is able to produce 600 million test kits,” he said.
“Two years ago, in all of Sub-Saharan Africa, there was no local manufacturer of rapid diagnostic kits, even to tell whether you have malaria or an infection. But now we do have local manufacturers, and that’s just the beginning. There are many more that are in the line because of this direction that this government has taken to produce locally,” Pate revealed.
The minister affirmed that the Tinubu administration has laid a solid foundation for a medically industrialized Nigeria, marking a significant shift towards self-sufficiency in healthcare production.