FG, EU seal deals to stimulate local manufacturing in health sector
These agreements, which are part of the EU Global Gateway Manufacturing and Access to Vaccines, Medicines, and Health Technologies (MAV+) initiative and SRHR flagships, will support a new generation of local producers and innovators who will build a stronger and more resilient health ecosystem across Nigeria and West Africa.
The agreements are: Enabling Local Manufacturing of Health, Immunisation and Nutrition Commodities in Nigeria (ELM-N), Quality Uplift for Advancing Local Industry in Medicine Standards (Qualimeds Nigeria) and Strengthening Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in West Africa.
They were signed during the Nigeria-EU Health Investment Forum hosted by the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC), and the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) in Abuja.
Gautier Mignot, EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, in his remarks, stated that the forum demonstrates Team Europe’s shared commitment to improving health across borders, through strategic investments.
“Working alongside all of our partners, including the Nigerian Authorities, United Nations, wider international community, and the private sector, we must build robust, resilient, and efficient health and social welfare systems to ensure prosperity for all,” he said.
He noted that the EU has been a long-standing partner of Nigeria and ECOWAS in health, supporting health in all its dimensions; from access to health services and large-scale immunisation, to polio eradication, medical research, and family planning: both through in-country programmes and contributions to multilateral pharmacies.
“We continue to support Nigeria through our Global Gateway initiatives, particularly reproductive health and maternal and child health, where we have a large ongoing project of €45 million in Nigeria, and almost €25 million in West Africa, funded with Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Gates Foundation” Mignot added.
“We also have upcoming initiatives on digital health and public health systems. But more than anything, we want to support the paradigm shift taking place in Nigeria and West Africa, moving from aid to peer-to-peer collaboration, from standalone projects, however important, to a dynamic investment strategy. And this is what our Global Gateway Investment Strategy is about”, he further said.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, in his address, noted that the signing of the agreements reaffirm the federal government’s resolve to build a sustainable, inclusive, and innovation-driven health economy.
Shettima, who was represented by Uju Rochas, senior special assistant on Public Health, Office of the Vice President, stressed that the federal government remains steadfast in creating an enabling environment for investors and innovators through predictable regulations, strong institutions, and public-private collaborations.
He reiterated that Nigeria is open for health investment, innovation, and impact. “The President has declared that Nigeria’s health transformation will not be driven by aid and dependency alone, but by government to drive ownership, accountability and innovation: Made in Nigeria, for Nigerians, and by Nigerians,” he added.
While commending the EU, PVAC, NIPRD, and other development partners he enthused that the agreements would mark the beginning of a new chapter, one defined by shared prosperity, local innovation, and global collaboration.
Read also: Foundation, experts decry rising trauma among Nigerian girls amid mental health gaps
In his address, Muhammad Pate, minister of Health and Social Welfare, who was represented by Olubunmi Aribeana, director of Food and Drug Services, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare stated that Nigeria is committed to ensuring that made-in-Nigeria health products serve not only its people but also the entire West African region and the world at large.
“Nigeria’s Renewed Hope Health Agenda is anchored on three pillars: Strengthening local production of health and pharmaceutical products; Expanding access for essential medicines and vaccines; and advancing sexual and reproductive health rights.
“As part of Universal Health Coverage, local production of health commodities is not merely an economic choice; it is a strategic health security priority by scaling up domestic manufacturing of medicines, diagnostics, vaccines, and other health technologies,” he said.