Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has signed an executive order to introduce zero tariffs, excise duties and value added tax (VAT) on imported pharmaceutical inputs.

Muhammad Ali Pate, coordinating minister of health and social welfare, in a statement on Friday, said the order is aimed at revitalising the Nigerian health sector and increase production of healthcare products.

“In a transformative move to revitalize the Nigerian health sector, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR @officialABAT, has signed an Executive Order aiming to increase local production of healthcare products (pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, devices such as needles and syringes, biologicals, medical textile, etc.),” Pate said.

“The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation @FedMinOfJustice, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi SAN, @LOFagbemi, is to now take the next steps towards codifying the new Order.”

Pate said the order is crucial to the success of the initiative for unlocking the health care value chain (PVAC_NG), which was approved in October 2023 by the president.

“The Order introduces zero tariffs, excise duties and VAT on specified machinery, equipment and raw materials, aiming to reduce production costs and enhance our local manufacturers’ competitiveness,” he said.

“Specified items include Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), excipients, other essential raw materials required for manufacturing of crucial health products like drugs, syringes and needles, Long-lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) and Rapid Diagnostic Kits, among others.

“The Order also provides for establishing market shaping mechanisms such as framework contracts and volume guarantees, to encourage local manufacturers.”

According to the minister, the order mandates collaboration among the ministers of health, finance, as well as industry, trade and investment, to develop a harmonised implementation framework — expediting regulatory approvals and reducing bottlenecks.

Pate said agencies including the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) “will ensure swift implementation, with special waivers and exemptions effective for two years”.

“The implication of this order is pivot towards market-based incentives to encourage medical industrialization, reducing costs of medical products through import substitution over time, creating and retaining economic value and enabling job creation in the healthcare value chain,” the minister said.

Pate thanked Tinubu for his courage and commitment to ensure Nigeria is put back on the path to prosperity.

He also expressed gratitude to everyone who contributed to the ideas that culminated in the consensus that resulted in the significant milestone.

The development follows an appeal sent by TheCable on May 23 to Tinubu and other political leaders in the country for policy and legislative actions on the escalating cost of medications, also known as “drugflation”.

The publication identified key proposals from its webinar — which was held in April 2024 — in the appeal and requested the approval of an unambiguous executive order to tackle the identified health sector issues, and encourage patronage of local manufacturers.

Wema Bank, Nigeria’s foremost innovative bank and pioneer of Africa’s first fully digital bank, ALAT, donated a brand-new car to Desoor Bags, the winner of the Outstanding MSME Clinic award—female category, at the National MSME Awards Night 2024. This Award Ceremony was held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday 27th June 2024, to commemorate World MSME Day.

The International MSMEs Day and MSME Awards Night 2024 is a twofold event organised by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Office of the Vice President, to celebrate the successes in the Nigerian MSME Sector and develop sustainable solutions for the continuous growth and development of the sector, to ultimately boost the Nigerian economy. The first part of the event convened top reputable institutions and entities including Wema Bank, to brainstorm and proffer sustainable financial solutions to not only provide affordable loans and funding for MSMEs, but to also ensure that these financial solutions are easily accessible and available to MSMEs. The concluding part of the Event was the National MSME Awards 2024; the sixth edition of the annual celebration.

The Award Ceremony celebrated top performing MSMEs across various categories from different parts of the country, awarding them with gifts and cash prizes in show of support and in advancement of their businesses. Wema Bank, reputed for its positive impact across various areas including MSMEs and Women, not only contributed immensely to the solutions garnered in the daytime event but also sealed its commemoration of World MSME Day 2024 at the National MSME Awards 2024 by gifting a car to Desoor Bags, the winner of the Outstanding MSME Clinic award (female category). This remarkable gesture simultaneously reinforced the Bank’s role as an enabler for MSMEs and its reputation for championing women empowerment and promoting gender inclusion in Nigeria.

Presenting the award and car gift in representation of Moruf Oseni, the MD/CEO of Wema Bank, Tunde Mabawonku, the Bank’s Executive Director of Retail and Digital Business, highlighted the impact of the World MSME Day 2024 events, emphasising the need to provide tailored support for MSMEs and advocating for a seamless synergy of capacity development, financial and material empowerment, collaboration, as well as leveraging technology and digital, to build a supportive ecosystem for MSMEs to thrive. “First, I would like to congratulate Adesola, the Outstanding MSME Clinic Award winner in the female category of the 6th National MSME Awards. It should come as no surprise that we choose to reward a woman today, as Wema Bank has always demonstrated a strong commitment to empowering women and provided tailored solutions for them to thrive in their personal and professional endeavours. We continue to do it through our women-focused proposition, SARA, and today, we have chosen to support this outstanding woman-owned business with a car to reduce stress and increase efficiency for her as she continues to grow her business”.

“As we commemorate World MSME Day today, it is important that we set our sights forward on the future of MSMEs in Nigeria. This is why the conversations we’ve had today are very important and Wema Bank is more than glad to be part of it. As the Bank that is committed to empowering lives through innovation, we are dedicated to not only providing innovative solutions and resources for customers to thrive but also empowering them to make the most of these solutions we provide. Technology and digital are the future, and intelligence is here to stay so beyond providing financial resources for MSMEs, we are also focusing on empowering them with digital skills to ensure they are not left behind in this digital evolution. The goal is digital empowerment for scale. To maximise our impact, we will continue to innovate and collaborate to drive capacity development, financial and material empowerment, as well as technology and digital empowerment for MSMEs, to build an enabling environment for these MSMEs to thrive”.

Expressing irrepressible gratitude to Wema Bank for the remarkable show of support, Adesola Adedoyin, CEO Desoor Bags and Winner of Outstanding MSME Clinic Award (Female category) at the National MSME Awards 2024, added, “I cannot find the words to express how I feel right now. My business has been recognised on such a huge platform and on top of that, I am going home with N2,000,000 and a brand-new car, it feels so unreal. Thank you, Wema Bank, for supporting me and my business with this car. I can now transport myself and the resources Desoor Bags needs without struggling to ‘jump bus’ multiple times when I can fit it all in the car at once. I am beyond grateful. Thank you to the Federal Government for the opportunity and thank you, Wema Bank for all you do”.

In its authority as Nigeria’s most innovative bank, Wema Bank continues to prove its mettle not just as an enabler for MSMEs but also as the partner of choice for all. With the Bank’s diverse range of tailored solutions and its success in already providing single-digit loans for female MSMEs, among others, Wema Bank continues to push boundaries for the best and redefine standards in the banking and financial services industry.

The Karu market in the federal capital territory (FCT) has been razed by fire.

The incident occurred late Thursday after traders had closed for the day. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Millions of naira worth of goods and properties have been damaged by the fire.

One of the traders beseeched the government to intervene on their behalf, lamenting about her plight to reporters.

“Everything just got burnt. I don’t know where to start. This is where we feed from, pay rent and where I pay my children’s school fees from. It’s all gone. Over N20 million gone,” she said.

In March, a section of the popular Wuse market in Abuja was gutted by fire.

The fire was said to have been caused by some aggrieved youths.

The youths were protesting the death of a young man during a clash between officials of the FCT task force and some traders.