Objectives:

The study objectives are follows:

- To identify the key regulations on drug importation and its impact on Local Manufacturing in Nigeria

- Identify the impact (positive and/or negative) of foreign contract manufacturing on local drug manufacturing

- Identify the key challenges faced by local drug manufacturers in Nigeria

- Provide recommendations to improve the local drug manufacturing in Nigeria.

Methodology:

To determine the impacts of drug importation regulations on local pharmaceutical manufacturing in Lagos Nigeria, the author adopted a quantitative and qualitative research method by using questionnaire surveys and zoom meeting interviews. The survey was distributed electronically to the local pharmaceutical manufacturing industries in Lagos Nigeria, who are also key importers of drugs in Nigeria. They are the main research group and were asked to fill the survey through the cooperation and assistance of the union (PMGMAN) that made their contacts available to the author. The cooperation between the local pharmaceutical unions in Nigeria assisted the author in gathering the required information and data used for the statistical analysis. The questions asked was specifically meant to get the general perception of the key players in the Nigeria pharmaceutical industry. Most importantly, to determine the impacts of drug importation regulations on local pharmaceutical industry in Lagos Nigeria. Along the same lines to get the challenges and recommendation for the growth of the industry that have depended so much on CMOs from India and China for 70% of their drugs. The qualitative approach of this research was via zoom meeting interviews to understand personal experience of the local drug manufacture’s and importers who have been in the business for more than one decade.
 
Findings:

The thesis aims at evaluating the impacts of drug Importation regulation on local pharmaceutical manufacturers in Lagos Nigeria by carrying out a questionnaire-based surrey and zoom interviews for quantitative and qualitative analysis respectively. In achieving the objectives of the study, the knowledge, awareness, and drawbacks faced by the local pharmaceutical industry were appropriately considered in order to derive at effective recommendations to improve local drug manufacturing in Lagos Nigeria. Both groups (local drug manufacturers/importers) in the pharmaceutical industry were compared to derive at their perspective on the impacts of drug importation regulations on their business. A total of 77 out of the 117 participated actively in the survey, of whom they combine pharmaceutical importation and local pharmaceutical manufacturing. Interesting, 83% of the participants admitted that the importation regulations in Nigeria are outdated and ineffective/inconsistent and have impacted negatively to the growth of the industry. However, an overwhelmingly majority of the local drug manufactures/importers also attributed the frequent taxation from state and non-state regulators as a major draw backs to local drug manufacturing that have yielded to the 25% capacity production of the Nigeria local drug manufacturing.
 
Analysis:

As evidenced by the analysis, most of the local manufacturer’s combines local drug manufacturing with its importation for the sustenance of their business since it is more expensive to manufacture drugs than its importation in Nigeria. The local manufacturers, PSN and PMGMAN admitted that the inability of the government in providing the enabling environment for local pharmaceutical manufacturing is among the factor that have discouraged local manufacturing of drugs. In addition to this they admitted that government regulations like high taxes and complex drug regulations have negatively affected the industry.

Conclusions:

In concluding this research work and its analysis on the impacts of drug importation regulations on local pharmaceutical manufacturing in Nigeria and after reviewing relevant literatures on the topic within the Nigeria pharmaceutical industry, the author found the process very informative and needful in solving the problem associated with the poor performance of the local pharmaceutical industry that have yielded to the 25% production capacity of the industry. Finally, the growth of the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry depends on the intervention of the Federal Government of Nigeria in providing the infrastructure’s, funds, policies and regulations which remains the key catalyst for the development of the industry and reducing the dependency on CMOs chiefly from India.