The Alternative Bank has unveiled plans to tackle Nigeria’s medicine security challenges through targeted financing for local pharmaceutical manufacturing, distribution, and healthcare supply chains, as part of efforts to reduce the country’s heavy dependence on imported drugs.
The Bank said Africa carries about a quarter of the global disease burden but still imports nearly 97 per cent of its pharmaceutical commodities, a situation that exposed major vulnerabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic and weakened Nigeria’s medicine security framework.
Speaking in an interview with the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria for the maiden edition of the Pharma Industry Digest, Group Executive of The Alternative Bank, Dr. Jekwu Ozoemene, stressed the urgent need for Nigeria to localise pharmaceutical production.
According to him, medicine security and pharmaceutical sovereignty have become critical to Nigeria’s survival and economic stability.
“Pharma and medicine security and sovereignty is essential to Nigeria’s survival. We are positioned to partner with all stakeholders to make this a reality,” he stated.
The non-interest bank explained that it is deploying asset-backed and risk-sharing financing models designed to support pharmaceutical businesses with flexible repayment structures tied to actual cash flow rather than conventional rigid loan conditions.
The Bank noted that the financing framework is aimed at helping local pharmaceutical firms scale sustainably while strengthening Nigeria’s healthcare value chain.
To drive the initiative, The Alternative Bank said it has introduced healthcare-focused financing products nationwide, including stock financing, vendor and distributor financing, supply chain financing, and revolving drug funds.
The Bank added that it is also supporting broader healthcare reforms through health insurance schemes, health management information systems, capital market access, and Banking-as-a-Service platforms in collaboration with State Health Boards.
According to the Bank, the partnerships are intended to improve access to affordable and quality medicines across the country.
Beyond healthcare delivery, the initiative is also expected to support Nigeria’s economy by reducing reliance on foreign exchange for pharmaceutical imports and boosting local manufacturing capacity.
The Bank said increased domestic pharmaceutical production would stimulate employment opportunities across the sector’s value chain, including laboratory research, quality assurance, logistics, and retail distribution.
Dr. Ozoemene said the Bank’s focus extends beyond financing importation businesses to supporting industrial pharmacists building globally compliant manufacturing facilities in Nigeria.
“We don’t only want to finance the company that imports the most products. We also want to finance the industrial pharmacist establishing a WHO-compliant manufacturing plant to produce essential medicines locally,” he said.
He added that the Bank is also interested in supporting researchers developing new formulations for diseases such as malaria and hypertension tailored to the Nigerian population.
The Alternative Bank stated that the initiative aligns with the principles of non-interest banking, which emphasise ethical investments with measurable social impact while promoting sustainable economic growth.
