Nigeria and Barbados have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost local production of pharmaceuticals and ensure regional health security.

The Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC) signed on behalf of the Federal Government while and Barbados Pharmaceutical Inc. (BPI) signed for its country.

The signing ceremony, which held in Abuja yesterday, marks a major step in deepening health cooperation between both nations.

The ministerial endorsement underscored the importance of the MoU.

The MoU is expected to accelerate local pharmaceutical manufacturing and strengthen regional market access across CARICOM–LATAM, ECOWAS and the AfCFTA.

It provides a shared framework for the two countries to drive industrial growth, improve drug availability, and enhance regulatory collaboration. The agreement also initiates discussions toward a regulatory reliance arrangement between NAFDAC and Barbados’ emerging Medical Products Regulatory Authority.

At its core, the MoU aims to establish joint activities that advance local production, strengthen policy reforms, and create financing channels that mirror PVAC’s successful deal-making model.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, while endorsing the MoU, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s full support for the partnership.

He noted that it aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s drive to industrialise the health sector, reduce dependence on imports, and strengthen national and regional health security.

He said: “This visit is beyond symbolism. It’s very substantive. It represents both our collective commitments, Barbados and Nigeria, to address a key gap that has emerged over the last few years in terms of our own national health securities. Not only Nigeria, but I will say shared across the sub-region, but also the continent”.

He said the delegation’s visit, made possible through AMA’s facilitation, was a significant milestone and assured that Nigeria is fully committed to supporting the implementation of the partnership with AMA going forward.

“I want to also confirm, when we met in September, Her Excellency Prime Minister Miamoteli really affirmed and conveyed that political will, which from our side also was reciprocated in terms of President Mbola Eme Tsunugu’s intent to ensure that we move steadily hand in hand with you. And the fact that you are here essentially takes us further since that meeting in September,” Pate stressed.

He emphasised that Nigeria’s growing pharmaceutical market, improved regulatory environment, and expanding primary healthcare utilization create the right conditions for impactful collaboration with global partners like Barbados.

Dr. Jerome Walcott, the Senior Minister of Health and Wellness, Barbados, described the partnership as a milestone for regional health security, saying: “As a strategic partner, one whose scale, capability and vision aligns with our own pursuit of health sovereignty and industrial transformation.

“This is not just an agreement between two institutions, it is a commitment between two governments and two regions to shape our own health futures.

“Both our heads of government, Prime Minister Mia Ammar Motley and the Honorable President, Amit Tenugbo, have spoken powerfully about the need for Global South to stand on its own feet to manufacture the medicines our people need and to reduce our dependency on external supply chains. Today’s MOU brings that vision to life.”

The Barbados delegation will also engage with AMA Medical Manufacturer and visit existing biomedical facilities, setting the stage for a Barbados-based production hub and future bilateral trade in medical and diagnostic products.

Speaking further about the MoU, PVAC National Coordinator, Dr Abdu Mukhtar, said: “This is basically a framework for collaboration between us, touching on a number of areas including technical capacity building and human capital development.

“We are already talking and seeing how we can bring together the Empower Academy that we established to see how that can work, but also issues around regulations.

“But it is in the process of establishing a national regulatory agency and in that regard they already in discussions with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), they’re going to hopefully sign another MOU with the agency”. (The Nation)