Okafor Retires from May & Baker

Okafor Retires from May & Baker

By Goddy Egene

The Managing Director, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, is to retire by the end of this business year, after almost a decade-long tenure.

Under him, the company recorded several milestones and transformed into one of few Africa’s globally certified centres of excellence in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Precisely, Okafor, who was appointed in February 2011, will be retiring by December 31, 2020.

And Mr. Patrick Ajah, who resumed on December 1, 2020 as an executive director, will take over as the new MD/CEO. Ajah is a vastly experienced pharmacist and business manager with nearly three decades experience.

The company explained that for nearly a decade, Okafor has come to be regarded as one of the most impactful leaders in the nearly eight decades of May & Baker Nigeria.

“Taking over from when profit before tax (PBT) was barely a third of a billion naira, Okafor has tripled this having led May & Baker Nigeria to becoming a billion-naira-profit company, doubling the balance sheet size from N7 billion to N14 billion, doubling shareholders’ equity from N3 billion to N6 billion and also doubling revenues by 100 per cent over his tenure and growing the business by investing in key infrastructure, research and innovation,” it said.

According to the company, at a time that industry headwinds and macroeconomic challenges were forcing several healthcare companies to downsize operations, Okafor implemented major strategic plans that not only saw May & Baker Nigeria receiving the coveted World Health Organisation’s (WHO) certification of global standards in manufacturing practices (WHO cGMP) for its pharmaceutical manufacturing complex (PharmaCentre) in Ota, Ogun State, but also becoming manufacturing partner for global pharmaceutical companies.

The multi-billion naira PharmaCentre, which was commissioned in 2011, was certified with the WHO’s cGMP in 2014.

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