… As experts, thought leaders advocate stronger ECOWAS regional Integration

By Chioma Obinna

Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to strengthening healthcare resilience across Africa, as regional leaders, policymakers and industry experts convened at the ECOWAS @50 summit to explore pathways for deeper regional integration.

The two-day event, themed “Regional Integration: Gateway to Peace and Security, Trade and Investment in the ECOWAS Sub-Region”, was hosted by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and held at the Commerce House, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Addressing participants, Emzor’s Executive Director, Pharm. Uzoma Ezeoke, spotlighted the company’s strategic interventions in drug manufacturing, medicine security, and access to affordable healthcare, especially through its state-of-the-art facilities in Sagamu, Ogun State.

“In a region where access to essential medicines remains a challenge, Emzor is scaling local production of over 160 high-quality products that meet global standards,” Ezeoke declared during her presentation titled “Local Manufacturing Equals Medicine Security.”

She noted that Emzor’s products are currently exported to up to 27 African countries, with Liberia and Sierra Leone among the major markets, while within Nigeria, the company has over 250 distributor relationships across all states.

Highlighting Emzor’s groundbreaking investment in an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) plant, Ezeoke described the development as a critical step towards addressing Africa’s overreliance on imported medicines.

“Our API plant in Sagamu will not only drive down import dependency and foreign exchange loss but also help eliminate substandard and falsified drugs that flood the market,” she said, adding that the project would improve access to quality healthcare and stimulate GDP growth.

Ezeoke further revealed that the facility will focus on producing WHO-recommended drugs, including antimalarials, aimed at combating maternal and infant mortality rates linked to malaria.

“Innovation remains at the heart of what we do,” she added. “We’ve developed dispersible tablets for children, launched a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) initiative with USAID to tackle malnutrition, and created novel solutions for postpartum bleeding.”

Speaking during a panel session titled “Health is Wealth: Strengthening Sub-Regional Health Resilience, she emphasised the need for companies to navigate and adapt to diverse regulatory frameworks across the sub-region.

“While the French and English-speaking West African countries present different regulatory landscapes, we at Emzor are ready to lead by deepening partnerships across both spheres,” she said.

Ezeoke also urged the Nigerian government to accelerate the implementation of the presidential executive order removing VAT and customs duties on pharmaceutical raw materials, lamenting that “Nigeria still pays import duties for APIs, a burden other countries have already eliminated.”

LCCI President, Mr. Gabriel Idahosa, in his opening remarks, echoed the need for deeper regional cooperation, stressing that peace and security were essential for economic development in the sub-region.

“Despite growing from \$4.5bn in 1979 to \$17.6bn in 2023, intra-regional trade still constitutes only 12 per cent of total trade, far below other regions,” Idahosa noted.

“With initiatives like the AfCFTA and ECOWAS currency, we have the tools to raise intra-African trade by over 50 percent by 2030.”

Also speaking, the President of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), Dr. George Agyekum Donkor, outlined the bank’s strategy to finance regional infrastructure and support MSMEs.

In a keynote delivered by EBID Vice President, Dr. Olagunju Ashimolowo, it was disclosed that the bank has financed over 300 projects totaling \$2.5 billion, including \$410 million across 19 projects in Nigeria, with 94 per cent channeled into the private sector.

The summit, which marked ECOWAS’s golden jubilee, convened stakeholders from across West Africa to deliberate on regional integration through trade, security, infrastructure, STEM education, women and youth empowerment.