By Queen Kunde
The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) has presented the operational licence for the newly approved Harvestfield Free Trade Zone (FTZ), a move aimed at cutting Nigeria’s heavy reliance on imported medical products and positioning the country as a regional health manufacturing hub.
Speaking at the licence presentation ceremony in Abuja, NEPZA’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Olufemi Ogunyemi, described the Harvestfield FTZ as a strategic intervention designed to tackle long-standing deficits in the nation’s healthcare supply chain.
“Harvestfield FTZ is strategic and focused on addressing key deficits in the health sector. This opens up a new opportunity for the country to become an exporter of health products,” Ogunyemi said.
He urged medical investors to leverage Nigeria’s free trade zones to ramp up local manufacturing of essential medical products and supplies, noting that the initiative aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to transform Nigeria into an export-oriented economy.
$30m Investment, 600 Jobs
Providing further details, Abdu Mukthar, Presidential and Ministry of Health Representative, said the Harvestfield FTZ emerged from the 2024 Presidential Executive Order on Local Manufacturing of Healthcare Products signed by Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Mukthar, who also serves as National Coordinator of the Presidential Initiative to Unlock Healthcare Value Chains (PVAC), disclosed that Danish conglomerate Vestergaard—the world’s largest manufacturer of insecticide-treated nets—has partnered with Nigerian business group Harvestfield under a joint venture, SNG Health, to establish a major production facility within the zone.
The partners have committed $30 million to the project, with additional investments expected from smaller stakeholders.
The facility, located in Ogun State, is projected to produce 10 million dual-insecticide-treated mosquito nets annually and create about 600 direct jobs.
Production is scheduled to commence in April 2026, with the first phase expected to meet 30 per cent of Nigeria’s insecticide net demand.
Tackling Malaria Burden
Mukthar noted that Nigeria currently bears 27 per cent of the global malaria burden and accounts for 30 per cent of malaria-related deaths worldwide, underscoring the urgent need for expanded local production of preventive health commodities.
With the Harvestfield FTZ now formally licensed, stakeholders say the initiative marks a significant step toward strengthening Nigeria’s healthcare value chains, reducing import dependence, and expanding the country’s footprint in global health product exports.
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