Even as the Nigerian authorities are inviting more and more Indian pharma players to set up manufacturing facilities and hike exports to the African country, the domestic pharma leaders have asked for some sort of financial incentives like tax holidays and free power to attract more investors from India.

Indian pharma members have suggested this to Dr Paul B Ohri, the director general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), in Nigeria. The visiting DG, who held interactions with the leaders of the industry here on March 17, said he would take up the matter with the authorities there.

“India is very important to us as the main importer of quality generic drugs. We are initiating many steps to attract Indian companies to set up base in Nigeria. Besides, almost all those 22 companies blacklisted earlier have been cleared now and only a couple of them are left now. We also want the Indian companies to take part in the bids to supply drugs to the government programmes,’’ Dr Paul told Pharmabiz after the interaction with the industry members.

The pharma units here asked him to abolish the practice of inspection by NAFDAC officials in the units here. “It is better that Nigeria enters into some bilateral agreement with India to accept the valid WHO GMP certificate issued by Indian regulatory authorities and avoid holding inspections again by the NAFDAC. It can save lots of time and procedural delays,” Ashutosh Gupta, member of the Pharmexcil COA (Committee of Administration), said.

Likewise, India also sought some kind of financial incentives to attract Indian investors. “We look forward to some kind of support from the Nigerian Government in the form of tax holidays and free power. Power is a big problem there. Another request was to accept Indian Pharmacopoeia for the Nigerian market in the same way it has accepted British Pharmacopoeia. IP is as good and valid as BP,’’ said Nipun Jain, the chairman of SME panel of the Pharmexcil.

As part of its ongoing efforts to promote Indian brand of medicines in Africa, the Pharmexcil is organising an expo-cum-business meet from March 23 to 24 at Lagos in Nigeria to showcase the strengths of Indian pharma industry.

As many as 53 companies, mainly the small and medium scale units, from India will take part in the event which will also provide an opportunity to clarify the doubts about quality standards about Indian pharma industry, if any, among the stake holders there.

The business meet is expected to generate new collaborations and business opportunities for the units in the two countries as Nigeria is one of the key markets for the Indian exporters.