The Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a construction firm, LMI Holdings Limited for the establishment of a pharmaceutical enclave in Ghana within the DAWA Industrial Zone.

The signing of the MOU will establish the first pharma park in the country.

The Chief Executive Officer of LMI Holdings, Kojo Botsio Aduhene, said this move is quite a significant mile stone in the quest to position the pharmaceutical sector as a strong force amid COVID-19.

He stated that President Akufo-Addo’s urge to make the sector self-sufficient contributed to the initiative.

“When the pandemic struck, the president of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Akufo Addo touted the need for Ghana to be self-sufficient with regards to the manufacturing of Pharmaceutical goods used in Ghana”, he said.

He emphasized:“the private sector led initiative is helping to do just that. Together with the chamber we make history by setting up an enclave which will provide a one stop shop for the manufacturing and processing of Pharmaceutical drugs in Ghana and the sub region. As enclave managers, it is our quest to provide world–class facilities which can be compared to similar industrial parks across the world”.

According to the chairman of the Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy, it marks another chapter in the history of ensuring that Ghana produces over 60 to 80 percent of medicines consumed locally hence the need for the MOU.

Pharm Harrison K. Abutiate gave details about the process saying, “the Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy will be establishing a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will become a legal entity for investing in the pharmaceutical enclave. The SPV shareholding will be open to members of the Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana (PMAG) as well as interested investors.”

“The SPV will establish a subsidiary Company through joint ventures that will provide critical support services at the enclave such as Common Effluent Treatment Plant, Incineration services, Bioequivalence (BE) and other Analytical services”, he pointed out.

Meanwhile the chamber will commence engagement with the ministry of Trade and industry (MOTI) the ministry of foreign Affairs and Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) to work jointly on marketing the enclave and attracting local and foreign investors (financiers and manufacturing firms) to the enclave.