Nigeria’s effort to rebuild domestic vaccine manufacturing has received a renewed push from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, which is seeking international support to establish production facilities in the country.
Director General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, said the absence of local vaccine manufacturing remained an important obstacle to Nigeria’s ambition of attaining World Health Organization Maturity Level 4 for vaccine regulation and lot release.
Speaking at the eighth Nigeria Pharma Manufacturers Expo in Lagos, Adeyeye called on international organizations that supported Nigeria’s regulatory development to extend that cooperation towards the establishment of modular facilities for vaccine filling and finishing.
She said NAFDAC had made significant progress in meeting international regulatory requirements for medicines and vaccines but still needed to strengthen the vaccine lot release function.
Nigeria, she argued, already possesses much of the institutional capacity required to advance to the next regulatory level, but domestic manufacturing is essential to completing the process.
Adeyeye recalled that vaccines were previously manufactured in Nigeria and said rebuilding that capacity had become necessary for national health security.
She also pointed to measures introduced by the Federal Government to strengthen pharmaceutical production, particularly the 2024 Executive Order designed to support the domestic healthcare manufacturing industry.
According to her, local pharmaceutical companies have operated under difficult economic conditions and require policies that reduce production constraints and make domestic manufacturing more competitive.
NAFDAC has also been implementing reforms intended to improve manufacturing standards.
Adeyeye said a Good Manufacturing Practice Roadmap audit covering more than 165 companies contributed to improvements in product quality and a substantial reduction in imports of products covered by local manufacturing initiatives between 2021 and 2025.
The agency has recorded other regulatory milestones, including international recognition of its Yaba laboratory and its attainment of WHO Maturity Level 3.
Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Oluwatosin Jolayemi, called for continuity in government support for the industry.
He urged the Federal Government to extend the relevant presidential executive order by another two years when it expires in March 2027, arguing that medicine security requires predictable and sustained policies.
The pharmaceutical expo attracted 132 participating companies from Nigeria and several other countries.
For NAFDAC, the broader objective is to move Nigeria beyond dependence on imported vaccines and rebuild the capacity to manufacture critical health products domestically.
