New international event for pharmaceutical industry and health professionals puts focus on Nigeria
An international trade exhibition dedicated to medicines will instantly become the largest of its kind across the entire sub-Saharan Africa region when it launches in March.
Pharma West Africa will host more than 120 exhibitors and more than 2,500 pharmaceutical professionals from around the world. A three-day conference running alongside the exhibition will also provide pharmacists and other professionals with accredited learning opportunities.
The free-to-attend event takes place from March 20th-22nd at the Landmark Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. It is intended for anyone involved in the supply, retail, manufacture or distribution of medicines and pharmaceutical products.
Exhibitors will be showcasing aspects ranging from finished formulations for supply against prescription or for retailing in pharmacies and other outlets through to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) as well as machinery, equipment, technology and packaging. Major pharmacy and pharmaceutical organisations and trade bodies are partnering with Pharma West Africa to ensure the event will appeal to anyone involved in the medicines supply chain.
The Conference running alongside the exhibition for the three days will be chaired by Ahmed Yakasai, former Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria Chairman and CEO/Founder of Pharmaplus Nigeria Ltd, with the third day being hosted by Pharmaceutical Wholesalers Association of Nigeria (PWDAN). Being accredited for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) means pharmacists and others attending the conference can collect CPD points.
Pharma West Africa is being staged by BtoB Events, which also produces Beauty West Africa, Food & Drink West Africa and the West African Automotive Show, all in Lagos. These have quickly become the largest trade events in Africa in each of their respective industry sectors.
Launching Pharma West Africa will boost the pharmaceutical industry here, says Chief Executive, Jamie Hill: “The idea is to bring together representatives from the entire pharmaceutical industry from across the globe to Nigeria under one roof for three days. Unlike a number of other exhibitions taking place shortly afterwards, ours is 100% focused on pharmaceuticals. We are not sharing our platform with other industries, such as laboratories or medical devices.
“We are proud to be hosting over 120 exhibitors at the exhibition this year and even prouder to say that a huge percentage of our exhibitors– between 25%-35% – will be Nigerian companies. This is in line with our focus as a business across our entire portfolio to support the major Nigeria brand and to support the Nigerian businesses as much as possible.”
Egypt and India are each hosting country pavilions, with other exhibitors travelling from among others, Canadia, Portugal, Thailand, Pakistan, France, the Caribbean and the ECOWAS region.
“We really have a global spread of exhibitors who represent thousands of different pharmaceutical brands,” said Mr Hill. “I think it’s important to be able to bring the number of international companies that we have to the shores of Nigeria for this exhibition to support local business in many ways, such as for distributors or retailers being able to find more cost-effective products.
“International manufacturers exhibiting here have also told us they want to explore contract manufacturing with local manufacturers to continue to boost the GDP of Nigeria moving forward.”
Businesses interested in exhibiting at Pharma West Africa, or in sponsorship opportunities, should contact the BtoB Events team via info@pharma-westafrica.com or by calling +44 2475 460143, or request a call-back via https://btob-events.com/contact/.
While admission to the exhibition and conference is free, it can help speed up entry to the event by pre-registering at https://www.pharma-westafrica.com/pre-register-now/.
