Lagos Braces for the Biggest Pharma Earthquake in Africa’s History As Nigeria Declares War on Imported Medicine

Mary Nnah

Lagos is about to become the epicenter of a medical revolution that could redraw Africa’s pharmaceutical map, and the man sounding the alarm is Frank Muonemeh, Executive Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.

In a sweeping address ahead of the 8th Nigeria Pharma Manufacturing Expo, NPME 2026, Muonemeh made it clear that Nigeria is no longer content to be a dumping ground for foreign drugs.

From September 28th to 29th, Harbour Point Event Centre on Victoria Island will host what insiders are already calling the most consequential pharma gathering the continent has seen, with exhibitors from five continents and nearly 10,000 trade professionals expected to descend on the city.

The theme for this year, “Regional Manufacturing: Advancing Africa’s Pharma and Life Sciences Sovereignty through Localisation”, is not marketing fluff. It is a battle cry.

The numbers Muonemeh dropped are staggering and they point to a seismic shift.

According to NAFDAC data, the ratio of imported to locally produced essential life-saving medicines now stands at approximately 50-50, a balance that would have sounded impossible a decade ago.

Even more dramatic is the collapse in imported finished pharmaceutical products, which has plunged from 4.03 billion units to 1.13 billion units as of 2025. That is not a dip. That is a collapse. And it is happening because PMG-MAN, the specialised sub-sector of MAN representing all pharmaceutical and allied product manufacturers in the country, has spent the last three years pushing medicine security with relentless force.

The group began in 1983 with just 20 foundation members under the late Professor Olikoye Ransom-Kuti, and it has since grown into a formidable bloc of over 200 companies employing thousands of Nigerian youths, paying taxes, and driving economic growth.

But the ambition goes far beyond self-sufficiency. Nigeria has signed the African Medicines Agency Treaty and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, and PMG-MAN members are already repurposing factories, chasing WHO pre-qualification, and entering contract manufacturing deals for global brands right inside Nigerian facilities. Some are pouring billions into Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient production, the very chemicals the world depends on, a move that threatens to break Africa’s dependence on Asia and Europe.

The strength of this uprising, Muonemeh said, is tied directly to the strength of Nigeria’s regulators. NAFDAC under Professor Moji Adeyeye, the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria under Baba Shehu Ibrahim, and the policies driven by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Coordinating Minister of Health Professor Muhammad Ali Pate have created what he called key enablers, including the 5 plus 5 policy and the Presidential Executive Order locking the pharmaceutical and life science ecosystem.

The problem, he argued, is that the Executive Order only runs for two years. In just one year of implementation, the industry has seen remarkable industrialisation, and his humble request to the presidency is simple: extend it to five years and watch Nigeria transform completely.

Muonemeh was blunt about the ghosts that still haunt the sector. High energy costs, infrastructural deficits, policy friction, discordant procurement rules, and access to finance remain real threats. Yet he insists these are not walls but doors.

The lesson of COVID-19 is still raw in Nigeria’s memory, and with Ebola headlines returning and the next pandemic described as a matter of when, not if, the question of supply chain resilience has become a matter of national security. Localisation, he said, is the only answer. There is a strong nexus between medicine security and national security, and every asset must be local if the country hopes to survive the next global shock.

That is why NPME 2026 is being framed as more than an exhibition. Organised by PMG-MAN in partnership with technical partners GPE India, the expo will showcase the entire spectrum of pharma processing and packaging machinery and materials on one business platform. It will also serve as the stage for policy dialogues, GMP training and certifications, and B2B engagements that could birth the next generation of CEOs in the local manufacturing ecosystem.

For entrepreneurs, investors, regulators, academia, development partners and NGOs, Muonemeh’s message was urgent and unapologetic: if you are in pharmaceutical and life sciences manufacturing or distribution, this highly rated show is for you. Get registered today.

The data speaks volumes, the momentum is real, and Lagos is about to prove that Africa’s pharmaceutical sovereignty is no longer a dream. It is under construction.