BoI, NAFDAC partner to boost local production, service delivery

The Bank of Industry (BoI) has partnered with the National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to boost local production of regulated goods and services in the country with the funding of an Agilent High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) equipment to check counterfeiting.

The acting Managing Director, BoI, Waheed Olagunju, explained that the partnership is in line with the federal government’s agenda to ensure that Nigeria produces all it has the capacity to produce while also providing the enabling business environment for businesses to thrive.

Olagunju during the commissioning of NAFDAC’s state-of-the-art Agilent High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) instrument in Lagos, said “We are here to collaborate with NAFDAC to ensure that they serve Nigerians better and enterprises that produce regulated products such as food and drugs sold to the Nigerian public.”

He however urged its customers to get NAFDAC registration numbers so as to get easy access to the facility, pointing out that with the HPLC, the turnaround time for production will be reduced

“With this facility, the turnaround time will be reduced if acquired. Prior to now, it takes a whole day to produce five products, but with this instrument, they can now produce as much as 200 daily,” he added.

According to him, the Development Finance Institution (DFI) is committed to supporting and encouraging viable businesses, saying that the bank is throwing its full weight behind the federal government’s target to push Nigeria 20 positions high in the ease of doing business index.

“The federal government is aiming to push Nigeria 20 positions high in the ease of doing business index and we will be on ground to increase access to credit facilities to finance viable businesses in the country. This is the beginning of more of positive collaborations going forward,” Olagunju added.

In her response, the acting Director General, NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde Oni, added that the instrument procured with the support of BoI will avail its laboratory analysts the opportunity to work with user-friendly, high output, sensitive instrument with multiple detectors that will handle various types thus improving timeliness of analysis of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, veterinary and other regulated products.

She stated that the facility will equip its analysts to detect and pronounce on substandard and falsified medical products as well as unwholesome foods in collective efforts to protect public health.

“Our goal in NAFDAC is to achieve zero tolerance to counterfeiting of NAFDAC regulated products. We are determined and committed to ensuring that only the right quality food, drugs and other regulated products are manufactured, exported, imported, advertised, sold and used in Nigeria,” she added.

She expressed gratitude to the management of BOI for donating the latest model of 1260 series of Agilent HPLC to NAFDAC, maintaining that it would strengthen its regulatory operations.

“This is the beginning of greater ties between both organizations to promote ease of doing business in Nigeria thereby supporting the vision of the present administration,” she said.

Also the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mrs. Binta Bello noted that the partnership between BoI and NAFDAC will serve as a precursor for further collaboration between the heath sector and other sectors of the economy towards repositioning the health sector.

“The problem of fake drug proliferation in Nigeria has affected the credibility of the healthcare system and has exerted very harmful effects on the consumer resulting to illness, disability and even death”, she added.