BRIEF - As local production of drugs is near total collapse due to inconsistencies in government policies, the high cost of drugs in the country will persist.
No thanks to the drug market in the country which has been dominated completely by imported drugs which comes to the average Nigerian at a very high cost, pulling no effect on the boast by the Nigerian pharmaceutical market of over 200 manufacturing and packaging companies made up of three dominant segments of readily available over-the-counter drugs (43.1 per cent), affordable generics (38.9 per cent), and expensive branded patented drugs (12 per cent).
Data released by Pharma West Africa rate the industry as the second largest in Africa, after South Africa, with an estimated market size of about ¦ 6.1 trillion according to data from Access Bank.
Even the market research from Goldstein Research predicted that the local pharma market size would increase at a Compound Annual Growth Rate, CAGR, of 9.1 per cent between 2017 and 2030.
Projections foresee a value surpassing N3.26 trillion by 2025 driven by a CAGR, of 11.5 per cent according to Access Bank Plc. Similarly, McKinsey & Company forecasts the market size to top N5.5 trillion by 2026. These projections highlight the immense potential of this sector in Nigeria.
Beneath this shiny surface, however, lies a dark side to the impressive credentials — stagnation.
Local drug manufacturing struggles to keep pace with the rapid growth. Many local pharmacies are overflowing with imported medications -a paradox. While the market thrives, domestic manufacturing which has capacity utilization below 50 per cent, cannot keep pace. Nigeria at the moment, only manufactures only around 25 per cent of its pharmaceutical needs.
As lamentable, despite having a large domestic manufacturing sector, a staggering 70 per cent of medicines are imported (essentially from China and India) either legally or smuggled illegally. Estimates suggest only 30 per cent of Nigerians have access to genuine medications.
Comments
Post a Comment