KEY POINTS
- Fidson praised the BoI and EIB for concessionary financing that expanded its drug manufacturing.
- The plant visit forms part of a €50m EIB-BoI healthcare financing partnership.
- Fidson’s workforce grew from about 250 in 2010 to roughly 1,800 today.
Fidson Healthcare Plc has commended the Bank of Industry for providing concessionary financing that has supported the growth of pharmaceutical manufacturing in Nigeria. The praise followed a visit by delegations from the European Investment Bank and the BoI to Fidson’s manufacturing facility in Sango-Ota, Ogun State.
A visit under the EIB-BoI partnership
The visit formed part of the implementation of the €50 million healthcare financing partnership between EIB Global and the BoI, which aims to boost local production of medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and other critical healthcare products. According to the BoI, the bank has built a strong relationship with Fidson since 2010.
Speaking during the visit, the Executive Director for Corporate Finance and Sustainability at the BoI, Rotimi Akinde, represented the Managing Director, Dr. Olasupo Olusi, and described Fidson as one of Nigeria’s leading pharmaceutical companies. “Over the years, we have provided concessionary financing to support its expansion plans, and the company has grown significantly as a result of that partnership,” he said.
Moreover, EIB Vice President Ambroise Fayolle said Fidson ranked among the first beneficiaries of the EIB-BoI healthcare programme. “A few months after signing the €50 million health financing agreement with the Bank of Industry, I am pleased to visit one of the first beneficiaries of this credit line, Fidson Healthcare,” he said.
Jobs and greener production
Furthermore, the Managing Director of Fidson Healthcare, Biola Adebayo, said the BoI’s support had proved instrumental to the company’s growth. According to him, the firm’s workforce expanded from about 250 employees in 2010 to roughly 1,800 today.
In addition, Adebayo said the financing enabled investments in green manufacturing and environmentally friendly production processes. Consequently, the company framed the partnership as a driver of both capacity and sustainability, since the funding helped it scale output while it adopted cleaner methods.
Ultimately, the visit underscored how development financing can strengthen local pharmaceutical production, a sector seen as vital to Nigeria’s health security and self-reliance. By channeling concessionary credit to manufacturers like Fidson, the BoI and EIB signaled their intent to deepen domestic capacity for medicines and other healthcare products, while they support job creation and greener industry across the country.