Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry was worth an estimated $1.4bn in 2016. It has the potential to reach $4bn by 2026, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11%, according to a 2017 report by consultancy McKinsey.
Nigeria is still largely dependent on foreign suppliers of pharmaceuticals. In 2020 imports accounted for around 70% of its medication supply – sourced mainly from China and India. The country also imported the bulk of the active ingredients and equipment used in manufacturing. There were roughly 300 drug importers operating in the country that year, according to a 2021 report from Goldstein Market Intelligence, which dominate the wholesale market and supply directly to large retailers and hospitals.
Pharmaceutical imports totalled N562.4bn in 2020, per data from Fitch Solutions, and are projected to increase by a CAGR of 20% to reach N1.4trn by 2025. Pharmaceutical exports, meanwhile, were valued at N127.9m in 2020 and are forecast to contract by a CAGR of 2.6% to N112.3m in 2025. This suggests that the structural trade deficit in pharmaceuticals will continue.
There are a combination of local and global players active in the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry. International pharmaceutical giants present in the market include GSK and May & Baker from the UK; AstraZeneca from Sweden; Bayer and Merck from Germany; Pfizer and Abbott from the US; Sanofi from France; and Ranbaxy, a subsidiary of India’s Sun Pharma. Domestic producers active in Nigeria include Fidson Healthcare, NEROS Pharmaceuticals, Mopson Pharmaceutical, Emzor and Archy Pharmaceuticals.
Precise market share breakdowns are difficult to ascertain, as many companies active in the sector are not publicly listed; however, a 2018 study published in the Central Bank of Nigeria Journal of Applied Statistics found an average market share of 2% among the 20 industry players sampled, pointing to the fragmentation of the market.
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