Strengthening Nigeria’s Healthcare Value Chain: HSCL & PVAC Partnership Update
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Strengthening Nigeria’s Healthcare Value Chain: HSCL & PVAC Partnership Update

Support the Rollout of SRH Commodities Production Strategy Through Capability Strengthening of Local Manufacturers

This project, under the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC), aims to promote the local production of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) commodities in Nigeria. By assessing the capacity of local manufacturers and providing targeted technical support, the initiative seeks to enhance local manufacturing capabilities, reduce reliance on imports, and improve access to quality-assured SRH commodities.

The overall goal of the project was to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system by supporting and expanding the local production of SRH commodities. Through evaluating the capabilities of local manufacturers and offering tailored technical assistance, the project aimed to reduce dependency on imported SRH products and ensure a steady supply of high-quality, affordable commodities.

Objectives

  • Identify and evaluate local manufacturers of SRH commodities to understand their production capacity, strengths, and operational gaps.
  • Assess the alignment between production capacity and demand for SRH commodities, while exploring opportunities for diversification into additional SRH products.
  • Develop tailored strategies to enhance manufacturers’ capabilities, enabling them to meet quality standards and scale production to national needs.

What We Did

HSCL delivered a structured, evidence-driven engagement combining market analysis, capacity assessment, and strategy development. Key activities included:

  • Conducted capacity assessments of SRH local manufacturers: HSCL identified and successfully conducted detailed capacity assessments of 13 local SRH commodity manufacturers across 9 states, evaluating production capacity, human resources, supply chain operations, regulatory compliance, quality assurance, funding and partnerships, innovation and research, risk management, and environmental and social sustainability.
  • Prioritised manufacturers for targeted support: Based on assessment findings, HSCL proposed a shortlist of local manufacturers for capacity strengthening, focusing on those with the highest potential to produce priority SRH commodities at scale and meet national quality standards.
  • Developed a capacity-strengthening strategy: HSCL developed a comprehensive capacity-strengthening strategy and implementation roadmap, validated through stakeholder engagements with PVAC.

Key Insights

  • The assessment confirmed that Nigeria has a sizeable but underutilised pharmaceutical manufacturing base, with over 70% of medicines still imported.
  • While some manufacturers demonstrate strong infrastructure, skilled workforces, and quality systems, many face persistent challenges, including limited automation, gaps in GMP and ISO compliance, high production costs driven by foreign exchange volatility, and constrained access to affordable financing.
  • At the same time, the findings highlighted clear opportunities. Several local manufacturers already produce or have the potential to produce priority SRH commodities such as oxytocin, magnesium sulphate, contraceptives, and menstrual health products.
  • With targeted technical assistance, improved access to financing, and supportive policies, these manufacturers could significantly reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported SRH commodities.

Through this engagement, Health Systems Consult Limited provided PVAC and stakeholders with robust evidence base and a practical roadmap to strengthen local SRH manufacturing. The project supports improved availability of essential SRH commodities, enhances health system resilience, and contributes to broader economic goals by promoting local industry, job creation, and national self-reliance in healthcare manufacturing.

Conducting a Rapid Health Market Assessment and Feasibility Study to Identify Opportunities for SRH Commodities in Nigeria

Nigeria’s Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) sector is at a pivotal moment. Rising demand for SRH commodities driven by population growth and increasing health needs continues to outpace supply. At the same time, heavy dependence on imports and donor-funded procurement exposes the system to foreign exchange volatility, supply disruptions, and frequent stockouts.

To address these challenges, the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC) engaged Health Systems Consult Limited to conduct a comprehensive market assessment and feasibility study aimed at identifying opportunities to strengthen the SRH commodity market in Nigeria.

Project Objectives

The project sought to:

  • Assess the current SRH market landscape in Nigeria.
  • Identify gaps and investment opportunities across Family Planning (FP), Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH), and SRH service delivery.
  • Evaluate the feasibility of implementing new FP, MNCH, and SRH interventions.
  • Develop actionable recommendations to strengthen Nigeria’s FP, MNCH, and SRH ecosystem.

Key Insights from the Assessment

  • Nigeria represents the largest SRH market in Africa, with a population exceeding 220 million people.
  • As part of the engagement, Health Systems Consult reviewed key policies, conducted a detailed market assessment, and completed a feasibility study covering 35 SRH commodities.
  • The assessment revealed that many essential SRH commodities including condoms, emergency contraceptives, HIV test kits, implants, and intrauterine devices have little or no local manufacturing presence.
  • Even where local production exists, capacity remains limited and underutilised.
  • This gap presents a significant opportunity for investment, local manufacturing, and industrial development within the health sector.
  • Market potential across several SRH commodities is substantial. High-demand products represent multi-million-dollar opportunities, including male condoms ($72 million), magnesium sulphate ($61.4 million), HIV test kits ($46.3 million), folic acid ($30.5 million), and a rapidly expanding menstrual hygiene market projected to exceed $900 million by 2025.
  • Strengthening local production of these commodities would improve availability while retaining economic value within Nigeria.

Key Challenges Identified

The assessment also highlighted persistent constraints within the SRH commodity market, including:

  • Limited access to financing, despite existing intervention funds.
  • Intense competition from imported products, which are often cheaper and perceived as higher quality.
  • Weak manufacturing capacity, with only about 20% of pharmaceuticals locally produced and heavy reliance on imported Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).
  • Policy inconsistency, creating uncertainty for long-term investment.

Key Opportunities

Despite these challenges, several opportunities were identified to support local SRH manufacturing. Some of them include:

  • Renewed government commitment to pharmaceutical manufacturing through initiatives such as PVAC, which aims to increase local production to 70% and reduce import dependence.
  • Regional trade opportunities under AfCFTA, enabling Nigerian manufacturers to access broader African markets.
  • Nigeria’s strategic geographic location, positioning the country as a logistics and distribution hub for West Africa.

Through this engagement, Health Systems Consult Limited provided decision-makers with a robust evidence base to inform policy reforms, investment strategies, and targeted technical support for local manufacturers. The findings outline a clear pathway toward strengthening Nigeria’s SRH commodity market improving access to life-saving products, creating jobs, building local capacity, and advancing national self-reliance in healthcare manufacturing.

Strengthening Pooled Procurement Systems for Malaria Commodities in Nigeria

Malaria remains endemic across Nigeria, with 97% of the population at risk. The country bears the highest global malaria burden, accounting for 27% of cases and 31% of deaths worldwide, and more than half of West Africa’s malaria cases. Despite the presence of national structures such as the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), Drug Revolving Funds (DRFs), and Drug Management Agencies (DMAs), malaria commodity supply in Nigeria remains fragmented, donor-dependent, and vulnerable to stock-outs, weak inventory visibility, and inefficiencies across multiple supply chain channels.

In response to these challenges, the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC) and NMEP, with support from the World Bank IMPACT, launched the project “Enhancing Local Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management for Health Commodities and Supplies in Nigeria.” The project adopts a phased approach to address both immediate supply chain gaps and long-term system sustainability. As part of this effort, Health Systems Consult Limited (HSCL) was engaged to support the strengthening of pooled procurement system for malaria commodities.

HSCL’s Engagement

The core objective of HSCL’s assignment was to support the establishment of a sustainable, transparent, and efficient pooled procurement system for critical malaria commodities, including vaccines, rapid diagnostic test kits (RDTs), antimalarial medicines, and long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs). Drawing on our extensive experience in strengthening procurement and supply chain management systems, HSCL delivered a structured, evidence-driven engagement focused on system diagnostics, stakeholder alignment, and solution design.

What We Delivered

  • Nationwide Capacity Assessment: HSCL conducted capacity assessments of Drug Management Agencies/Departments of Pharmaceutical Services (DMAs/DPS) across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Using our network consultants across the nation, the assessment covered key thematic areas including governance, financial management, supply chain operations, quality assurance, human resources for health, and partner support. In each state, we also assessed three health facilities to understand how DRF systems function at the service delivery level. Findings from field visits were systematically analysed to identify structural gaps, operational bottlenecks, and opportunities for strengthening malaria commodity procurement and inventory management.
  • Regional Validation and Advocacy Workshops: HSCL organised regional validation and advocacy workshops across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, achieving 100% state representation. These workshops served to validate assessment findings, highlight state-specific strengths and gaps, and build political commitment for the national pooled procurement mechanism - Medipool.
  • Institutional Strengthening: We developed state-specific capacity strengthening plans and short-term costed action plans for DMAs/DPS and supported the revitalisation and strengthening of procurement committees at both national and state levels.

Key Insights and Impact

  • The assessment confirmed that while institutional frameworks for malaria commodity management exist, procurement and supply chain operations remain fragmented and heavily donor driven.
  • Limited end-to-end visibility, weak logistics information systems, and parallel supply chains continue to undermine efficiency and increase the risk of stock-outs.
  • However, the findings also demonstrate strong opportunities to leverage pooled procurement to reduce costs, improve quality assurance, and strengthen national ownership of malaria commodity supply.

Through this engagement, HSCL provided a clear, actionable roadmap for strengthening pooled procurement systems for malaria commodities supporting Nigeria’s transition toward a more coordinated, transparent, and sustainable supply chain aligned with national priorities.

HSCL PVAC SRH Commodities Local Manufacturing Malaria Supply Chain Pooled Procurement Market Assessment
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