Pharmaceutical manufacturers have appealed to the Federal Government to extend the Executive Order supporting local pharmaceutical production by another two years, saying policy continuity is needed to sustain investments and strengthen Nigeria’s medicine security.
President Bola Tinubu signed the Executive Order in 2024 for a two-year period. The order introduced zero tariffs, excise duties and VAT on specified pharmaceutical inputs, machinery and other healthcare products to support local manufacturing.
Oluwatosin Jolayemi, chairman of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMGMAN), said the current policy window should be extended to enable manufacturers to deepen investments, expand production capacity and consolidate gains recorded in the sector.
Jolayemi made the appeal at the 8th Nigeria Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Expo (NPME) 2026 in Lagos, where manufacturers, regulators, investors, policymakers and development partners called for sustained policies and reforms to position Nigeria as a regional pharmaceutical manufacturing hub.
He said the Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturing sector was undergoing significant transformation, noting that PMGMAN now represents more than 200 local pharmaceutical manufacturing companies.
According to him, the gains recorded by the industry must be protected through policy consistency and a predictable investment environment, particularly as manufacturers continue to contend with high energy and production costs, supply-chain challenges, port inefficiencies, limited access to long-term capital and market-access constraints.
He said Nigeria’s ambition to become a regional pharmaceutical manufacturing hub must be anchored on a competitive, scalable and resilient domestic manufacturing ecosystem.
Jolayemi called for coordinated action among government, regulators, manufacturers, financiers and development partners to address structural barriers and move the sector beyond domestic production towards a globally competitive and regionally integrated manufacturing ecosystem.
Declaring the expo open, Iziaq Salako, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to expanding domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing as a pathway to medicine security, healthcare resilience and economic development.
Salako stressed the need to strengthen capacity across the pharmaceutical value chain, covering research and development, innovation, sourcing of active pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients, formulation, manufacturing and quality assurance.
He also called for increased investment in sophisticated areas of pharmaceutical production, including biologics, vaccines and other critical health technologies, while urging stronger regional cooperation to address regulatory barriers limiting access to African markets.
John Enoh, Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, represented by the Director of Chemical and Non-Pharmaceutical Industry, John Oluwa, said the Federal Government was committed to moving Nigeria from an import-dependent market towards greater self-sufficiency under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Enoh said the government was targeting 70 percent domestic production of essential medicines while developing a resilient ecosystem capable of meeting the country’s medical needs.
He said increased domestic manufacturing capacity would provide a foundation for expanding Nigeria’s pharmaceutical exports into West Africa and the wider African market through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The minister listed proposed interventions to support the target, including expanded tax exemptions, tariff waivers on raw materials and machinery, incentives for backward integration in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients, as well as dedicated pharmaceutical intervention funds.
He added that the government was working with regulatory agencies, including the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and NAFDAC, to ensure that locally manufactured pharmaceutical products meet international standards and become more competitive in export markets.
Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of NAFDAC, disclosed that 37 local manufacturing facilities were undergoing retrofitting and construction upgrades to meet international standards.
She said Nigeria could not afford to reverse the gains recorded in local pharmaceutical manufacturing and urged the country to intensify efforts towards the production of vaccines and other critical health commodities.
At the continental level, Delese Darko, Director-General of the African Medicines Agency, called for stronger regulatory cooperation among African countries to accelerate access to quality-assured medicines and create a more integrated pharmaceutical market.