Emzor shifts $23m API plant completion to Q4 2025 - Businessday NG

Mar 22, 2025

Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited has revised its completion timeline for the $23 million active pharmaceutical ingredient plant due to Nigeria’s intensifying fiscal and monetary pressures.

Originally slated for the first quarter of 2024, the project, the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, is now expected to be finished in the fourth quarter of 2025.

On Thursday, management reported significant progress on the plant’s construction, with civil works exceeding 90 per cent completion and the installation of critical equipment well underway.

In preparation for broad-scale production at its new API plant, the company has developed approximately seven antimalarial brands from its mini-API research and development laboratory.

“There were some delays but are not unrelated to the efficiency and the cost of the supply chain and duties. I know the government has put some things in place intended to support projects like this. You want to hold out to access all of those benefits.

Then also you get to a point at which you decide whether to just pay extra charges or keep waiting, Uzoma Ezeoke, Emzor’s executive director, said during a tour of the company’s 65-hectares production facility at Sagamu.

Read also: Emzor’s $23m plant to save dollars, save lives

Another element holding down the completion of the project is the regulatory oversight of the API project which is outside of the company’s control.

Ezeoke said the company has received a commitment to move the licensing of the project forward, even though it has never been done before in the country.

It secured a €13.85 million loan from the European Investment Bank to execute 60 per cent of the project deemed as pivotal to the emergence of Nigeria as a regional hub of pharmaceutical production.

Mangalam Drugs and Organics, an Indian company engaged in the research and development of APIs, intermediates, and speciality chemicals is driving the transfer of technical know-how to Emzor.

When completed, the plant is expected to produce about 20 metric tonnes of APIs, reducing Nigeria’s reliance on China and India for pharmaceutical raw materials.

Over 90 per cent of the raw ingredients of pharmaceutical production are mostly sourced from these two powerhouses, exposing Nigeria’s drug supply chain to foreign exchange volatility and sometimes import inflation.

Data from NAFDAC reveals a significant increase in the value of imported finished drugs. Specifically, artemether/lumefantrine imports rose from N6.4 billion in 2018 to N12.1 billion in 2021, while sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine imports climbed from N453 million to N1.3 billion over the same period.

Between 2018 and 2021, Nigeria’s import value of finished artemether/lumefantrine drugs nearly doubled, reaching N12.1 billion from N6.4 billion.

Similarly, sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine imports tripled, increasing from N453 million to N1.3 billion, as reported by NAFDAC.

Read also: Nigeria’s pharma boom: Positioning in a new era of growth

Local production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) is expected to streamline the drug manufacturing process, enhancing the competitiveness of Nigerian drug manufacturers against imported finished products, primarily from India and China.

Funke Asiru, Emzor’s executive director of strategy and Transformation said the company has adopted innovative strategies to work out market failures and supply chain inefficiencies to support Nigerians’ access to quality and affordable drugs and get the healthcare that they deserve.

On drug pricing and affordability, the executive director further explained that the company has also deployed fiscal measures to drive down its cost of production and reduce the buck passed to end-consumers.

She however pointed out that the lack of regulation in drug pricing is worsening the lot of consumers as some of their drugs cost about four times more after leaving the production site.

“If we look at the cost of healthcare, we have to look across the entire service delivery value chain because a lot is happening further downstream. However, the main focus is usually on the manufacturer.

Apart from the API project, the company is also progressing with the development of other projects including infusion, cephalosporin, beta-lactam and vaccine production plant.

Chisom Michael is a data analyst (audience engagement) and writer at BusinessDay, with diverse experience in the media industry. He holds a BSc in Industrial Physics from Imo State University and an MEng in Computer Science and Technology from Liaoning Univerisity of Technology China. He specialises in listicle writing, profiles and leveraging his skills in audience engagement analysis and data-driven insights to create compelling content that resonates with readers.

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