Fidson Healthcare Plc, a leading Nigerian pharmaceutical company, signed a Strategic Cooperation Memorandum with Jiangsu Aidea Pharma, Nanjing PharmaBlock, and the China-Africa Development Fund in Beijing, China on Monday, September 2, 2024. The signing ceremony took place during a visit by a Nigerian delegation led by Dr. Fidelis Ayebae, the founder and Managing Director of Fidson Healthcare Plc. Other members of the delegation included Dr. Babatunde Ipaye and Mr. Oshoke Ayebae.
Through this collaboration, the four parties have agreed to leverage their respective strengths to establish a new joint venture pharmaceutical plant in Nigeria. This project aims to promote Africa’s self-reliance in healthcare delivery, with a particular focus on tackling HIV. The parties will share information and resources, explore investment opportunities in the West African pharmaceutical markets, and implement investment cooperation at the project level.
This agreement follows a series of engagements, including a visit by Dr. Heliang Fu, Chairman of Jiangsu Aidea Pharma, to Nigeria earlier in the year. During his visit, Dr. Fu toured the Lekki Free Trade Zone, the chosen site for the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that aims to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria and the wider African continent.
The partnership between Fidson and the Chinese firms exemplifies international cooperation to address pressing medical challenges. The upcoming manufacturing facility will become a hub for pharmaceutical excellence, leveraging the strategic location and infrastructure of the Lekki Free Trade Zone to foster economic growth and improve healthcare.
Dr. Fu stated, “This collaboration marks an important step for Chinese Pharma players in their commitment to global medical cooperation. By integrating our expertise and experience in innovative drugs, we are confident in bringing greater well-being to African patients.”
Dr. Ayebae expressed optimism about the partnership, saying, “We eagerly look forward to this collaboration and believe that the complementary strengths of all parties will inject new vitality into the healthcare delivery sector in Africa, particularly addressing the medical needs of over 1.9 million HIV-infected individuals in Nigeria, a focus of Aidea Pharma.” He added that the project comes at an opportune time, as the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) in Nigeria, under the leadership of Dr. Temitope Ilori, is championing the government’s drive to support local production of Anti-Retroviral drugs (ARVs).
