By Adedapo Adesanya

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has applauded the approval of the Medipool project, which has been floated to address drug access in Nigeria’s most underserved regions.

According to Mr Jobson Ewalefoh, the Director-General of ICRC in a statement signed by Mr Ifeanyi Nwoko, Acting Head, Media and Publicity, said the project also includes the initiative would improve the lives of Nigerians.

“Imagine a Nigeria where no child dies due to the unavailability of vaccines, where every health facility, no matter how remote,, has access to life-saving drugs.

“That future begins now, with the Medipool Project. Medipool is just the beginning under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are driving infrastructure delivery across all sectors, ensuring that no Nigerian is left behind.”

He added that with Medipool, President Tinubu was restoring hope to neglected regions by ensuring access to essential medicines, which “is a right, not a privilege, for all Nigerians.”

Mr Ewalefoh said the Medipool initiative, part of the Presidential Initiative for unlocking the healthcare value chain, aimed to centralise the procurement and distribution of essential medicines, vaccines, and consumables.

He said this would be achieved through a high-efficiency Group Purchasing Organisation (GPO).

Mr Ewalefoh emphasised that the project would not only promote transparency and affordability but also ensure that no region was left behind, particularly rural and hard-to-reach areas that had historically suffered from poor access to medicines.

He said in addition to Medipool, FEC approved the Ikere Gorge Hydropower project (Oyo State), which was originally initiated under the Obasanjo military regime.

Mr Ewalefoh said the dam would be redeveloped under a Finance-Build-Operate-Transfer (FBOT) structure to generate over six megawatts of electricity.

He said the dam would also provide potable water to towns like Iseyin and Saki and irrigate thousands of hectares of farmlands.

Mr Ewalefoh listed other projects as the Coastal Fisheries Terminal (Borokiri, Rivers State).

“This project aims to boost Nigeria’s fishery value chain through modern cold-chain logistics, job creation, and enhanced export capability.

He said these PPP initiatives aligned with Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to transform Nigeria’s infrastructure landscape, enhance service delivery, and stimulate inclusive economic growth.

Mr Ewalefoh said the ICRC would continue to provide regulatory oversight to ensure project transparency, value for money, and full alignment with global PPP standards.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The federal Government has approved a new policy known as Medipool, which targets lowering the cost of drugs and other medical consumables for Nigerians.

This was part of the decisions reached at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, on Monday.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate, said Medipool is a group purchasing organisation for competitive pricing and to be a supplier of essential medicines and healthcare products across Nigeria.

According to him, Medipool was developed to consolidate the demand from basic healthcare centres and federal tertiary hospitals, enabling the government to leverage bulk purchasing power to lower medical costs.

“Today, council approved Medipool; it’s a group purchasing organisation for competitive pricing and to be supplier of essential medicines and healthcare products across Nigeria, through the Federal Government’s intervention, the basic health care provision fund, but also eventually outside that, through federal tertiary hospitals, so that as a buyer, we can negotiate lower prices.

“So, it’s using the monopsony power of the government as a large buyer of those commodities, negotiating lower prices and then channeling those commodities,” he said, according to a statement.

Speaking further, the minister explained, “The scope includes, but it’s not limited to procurement planning, distribution monitoring, supply chain, logistics management, quality assurance, regulatory compliance, as well as ensuring that local manufacturers are supported, and import substitution and the financial management and payment systems, as well as capacity building and training and contingency planning to ensure steady availability of essential drugs that are the quality that Nigerians can benefit and at a lower cost through, a public private partnership.”

He noted that the Medipool model was benchmarked against similar initiatives in countries such as Kenya, South Africa, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia, emphasising that the administration aims to support local manufacturing, promote import substitution, and ensure Nigerians have access to high-quality, affordable medicines.

The FEC also awarded a N2.3 billion contract for the procurement of a state-of-the-art cardiac catheterisation machine for Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) in Sokoto.

The health minister said this will help the university hospital provide diagnosis and treatment services for heart and blood vessel problems, heart attacks, and irregular heart rates.

“The university hospital in Sokoto will now have this capability, which will serve the population in Sokoto State, the North West geopolitical zone of our country, and indeed the country. It will save lives, but also contribute towards reversing outbound medical tourism, because Nigerians will be able to access services that they were not able to,” he added.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

A new rapid diagnostic test (RDT) production plant has been opened in Sagamu, Ogun State by Codix Bio Limited in a bid to strengthen healthcare manufacturing in Nigeria.

The Governor of Ogun State, Mr Dapo Abiodun, commended the company for choosing the state for the factory, which he described as a transformative leap to making the country a big force in the healthcare system.

“We are proud to commission Nigeria’s first large-scale rapid diagnostic test (RDT) production facility—Codix Bio Limited—right here in Ogun State.

“Located along the Sagamu Expressway, this state-of-the-art in-vitro diagnostics factory is only the second of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa and will produce over 147 million test kits annual for diseases such as HIV, Malaria, and Hepatitis B and C.

“This milestone marks a transformative leap in our journey to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system through bold investment, local innovation, strategic partnerships, and local manufacturing,” he stated.

With this facility, Codix Bio is now the first African manufacturing partner selected by the World Health Organization (WHO), SD Biosensor, and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) under the WHO Health Technology Access Pool (HTAP) programme.

This landmark designation places Codix Bio at the forefront of regional production for RDTs in Africa—solidifying its role as a key partner in strengthening global health security.

The new plant positions the firm within the scope of WHO’s technical support system, allowing for technology transfer, regulatory assistance, and sustained global collaboration.

Through the sublicensing agreement with SD Biosensor and MPP, Codix Bio will receive proprietary rights, technical know-how, and materials to legally develop and produce rapid diagnostic test kits based on SD Biosensor’s cutting-edge platform.

This technology enables the production of multipurpose rapid diagnostics adaptable to both pandemic and inter-pandemic periods marking a transformative milestone in increasing equitable access to healthcare in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

With the commissioning of this facility, Codix Bio is scaling innovation and it has positioned Nigeria and the African continent for self-reliant, sustainable healthcare solutions.

“With over 90 per cent of diagnostic kits used in Africa currently imported, this facility will significantly reduce our reliance on external supply chains, conserve foreign exchange, and create high-value jobs.

“This factory will help to solidify Nigeria’s position as a health hub in the continent and globally. This is a leap forward for our national and continental health security,” he affirmed.

“With this facility, we are not only boosting local production but also saving foreign exchange, creating jobs, and reinforcing our public health response capacity.

“We call on other investors to come onboard by producing other medical consumables needed by the various medical diagnostic groups,” the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, said.

On his part, the WHO Representative in Nigeria, Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, hailed the facility as a “game-changer” in Africa’s efforts toward disease control, health security, and public health advancement, saying it will improve access to timely and accurate testing and reduce dependence on imported rapid test kits.

The chairman of Codix Pharma Group, Mr. Sammy Ogunjimi, said, “We are delighted to unveil our second manufacturing plant today. But beyond infrastructure, we know that human capital is equally vital.”

He reiterated Codix Pharma’s support for regional integration frameworks, including the Africa CDC, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the African Medicines Agency (AMA).

“Once a product is approved by NAFDAC, it should move freely across Africa. Regulatory harmonization is essential to unlocking the potential of intra-African health trade,” he said.