The pharmaceutical manufacturers’ group in Nigeria has expressed frustration over the “high cost of import duty and the high cost of operation” in the country. They explain that the “high cost of medications is influenced by the high cost of customs duty, cost of production, and inflation.”
PMGMAN, the group representing pharmaceutical and allied product manufacturers in Nigeria, is particularly concerned. Its Chairman, Oluwatosin Jolayemi, acknowledged the longstanding issue of rising drug costs but is especially alarmed now because “the Customs decide to use the parallel market rate as their rate of judging duty instead of using the official market rate.” He criticized the arbitrary selection of HS-Codes by customs, which “increases the duty on each of the products,” adding to the industry’s challenges.
Jolayemi highlighted the impact of the naira’s devaluation on operation funds and noted that the problem extends beyond the pharmaceutical industry to all manufacturers importing raw materials or packaging. He emphasized, “there is no shortcut to medicines, you cannot even adjust quality because the moment you adjust quality, your product becomes substandard.” He warned that companies might have to choose which products to continue selling based on costs, leading to “no stability in the costing any more, high cost of production and again there are no credit sales anymore.”
To address these issues, Jolayemi urged the Federal Government to provide about a “40 per cent rebate on every calculated duty” and to establish a “revolving fund” to help industries access single-digit funding. He also called for treating “pharmaceutical manufacturing of medicines, as a security issue,” highlighting the importance of medicine for national health and security.
Jolayemi criticized the government’s approach to solving manufacturers’ problems without involving them, saying, “they keep talking to themselves and keep looking for solutions for manufacturers without involving the manufacturers, then it is just an exercise into futility.” He stressed the need for “political will to improve medicine security in the country,” concluding that recognizing the production of medications as a priority is essential for national well-being.