Suara Sherif
Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries has tapped Nigeria’s debt market for N26.7 billion ($19.8 million) to bankroll the final phase of a facility that would make it the first company in West Africa to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients for anti-malarial drugs locally.
The Series 1 fixed rate bond, priced at a 19 percent coupon with a five-year maturity, was issued through Emzor Pharma Funding SPV Plc on the FMDQ Group Exchange.
Investor appetite outpaced supply, leaving the offer oversubscribed and signalling confidence in the drug maker’s expansion plan.
The raise is the opening tranche of a broader N40 billion ($29.6 million) bond programme.
It also represents Emzor’s second outing in the domestic bond market.
Funds from the transaction are earmarked for scaling up local pharmaceutical manufacturing, with priority attention on completing the anti-malarial API plant.
Once operational, the facility is expected to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported drug ingredients and strengthen the country’s pharmaceutical supply chain.
The move aligns with a wider push by Nigerian manufacturers to deepen domestic production capacity amid foreign exchange pressures and global supply chain disruptions.
Industry watchers say Emzor’s latest capital raise could position the company as a key player in Africa’s pharmaceutical self sufficiency drive, particularly in the fight against malaria, which remains one of the continent’s deadliest diseases.
