The Chairman of Tobinco Group of Companies, Dr. Samuel Amo Tobbin, has called on the government to boost support for local pharmaceutical companies.

According to him, if young people are encouraged to enter manufacturing, they can sustain and advance the pharmaceutical industry.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on August 15, he said, “My senior, Ernest Chemist and I are growing, so when we are not there anymore and we don’t have the young ones there, the Indians will take over.

"This is a big challenge that I passionately want to pass across," he added.

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Dr Tobbin stated that the government needs to support the pharmaceutical industries to increase the number of players in the sector.

He proposed setting up more pharmaceutical laboratories and improving the facilities to meet international standards.

He stated that currently, some required labs and equipment must be sourced outside the country which can be a challenge.

“Some of the labs that need to meet the WHO standards, we need to go outside Ghana to have those labs and looking at Ghana and where we are situated in the sub region, it is an area the government can work on and that facility will support our industry.”

“When you talk about West Africa, it’s Ghana and Nigeria. Nigeria because their population is big, they don’t worry themselves going out. Anytime we go for tender in other places, you don’t see Nigerians. You see only Ghanaian players competing against themselves,” he said.