KEY POINTS
- Emzor constructs an API facility for $23 million.
- The facility’s main goals are to fight malaria, HIV, and provide necessary medications.
- The project is funded by a loan from the EIB and partners in India.
Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited is forging forward with a $23 million Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) facility in Sagamu, Ogun State. Nigeria is doing this to defend its indigenous supply networks and become less dependent on drugs.
Emzor was created by Nigerian businesswoman Stella Okoli. The company says this will be the first specialized API plant in sub-Saharan Africa. Construction delays due by financial and regulatory challenges are predicted to set back the start of operations at the facility until early 2026.
Emzor builds a $23 million API plant in Nigeria
The factory will start by making antimalarial drugs, but subsequently it will also create HIV/AIDS meds and other essential medicines. Emzor said it has completed more than 90 percent of the civil works, installed the main equipment, and already developed five APIs for antimalarial drugs in its own lab.
Nigeria has more than a quarter of the world’s malaria cases and almost a third of the deaths, therefore the experiment emphasizes how crucial it is to make medicine in Nigeria. “This facility is a bold step toward medicine security for Nigeria and West Africa,” said Kunle Faloye, Emzor’s head of marketing and development.
The endeavor is possible because of money and connections around the world
The founder, Stella Okoli, said that the plant was part of a larger goal to make “medicine security” better all over Africa. The cash comes from a €13.85 million loan from the European Investment Bank and agreements to transfer technology to India’s Mangalam Drugs & Organics and the API for Africa initiative.
The company also paid off its first commercial paper of N5.13 billion in August 2025. This indicated that it was financially prudent and had an A- credit rating. The government offered a two-year exemption on tariffs and VAT on raw materials, and President Bola Tinubu’s “Nigeria-First” edict directs ministries to place local goods first. Analysts say that these moves will let Emzor compete better and ease some of the strain on the naira in the foreign exchange market.
From a modest drugstore to a major enterprise all across the world
Emzor started off as Okoli’s modest pharmacy in Lagos in 1984. Now, it is one of Nigeria’s biggest drugmakers, with more than 200 registered goods, including painkillers, antibiotics, vitamins, and antimalarials. The group now runs several factories and ships goods to other parts of West Africa.
Emzor has also started to work with nutrition. In 2023, its food and beverage division worked with USAID to make therapeutic food for kids who were not getting enough to eat. According to Billionaires Africa, this helped both local farmers and public health aims. Its API collaboration, observers also say, offers a major step toward cutting Africa’s $15 billion annual medication import expense.
