The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) has licensed the Harvestfield Free Trade Zone (FTZ), a specialised medical manufacturing hub designed to curb the nation’s reliance on imported health products and stimulate local production.
The initiative, formalised with the presentation of a Declaration of Licence in Abuja, centres on developing healthcare manufacturing capacity. NEPZA Managing Director Olufemi Ogunyemi described the zone as a strategic move to address critical deficits in the health sector and pivot Nigeria toward an export-oriented economy.
A key investor is Danish multinational Vestergaard, partnering with Nigerian firm Harvestfield through the joint venture SNG Health. The venture will invest $30 million to build a facility in Ogun State focused on manufacturing insecticide-treated nets. The plant is slated to begin production by April 2026, initially meeting 30% of Nigeria’s annual net demand and creating approximately 600 jobs.
Presidential Health Initiative Coordinator Abdu Mukthar linked the project directly to President Bola Tinubu’s 2024 Executive Order on local healthcare manufacturing. He framed it as part of a broader strategy to reposition Nigeria as a producer, not just a consumer, of health commodities. “This is not just about import substitution,” Mukthar stated. “It is about building a sustainable ecosystem that creates jobs, supports research, and improves healthcare outcomes.”
Nigeria currently spends billions on importing medical consumables, pharmaceuticals, and equipment—a vulnerability exposed during global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. The Harvestfield FTZ aligns with federal efforts to localise production through the Presidential Initiative to Unlock Healthcare Value Chains, which targets vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics.
Free trade zones, offering tax incentives and regulatory flexibility, are central to this industrial policy. By concentrating specialised manufacturing, such zones aim to conserve foreign exchange, create employment, and boost non-oil exports, complementing Nigeria’s goals under the African Continental Free Trade Area to serve regional markets.
The project’s focus on malaria nets also carries immediate public health weight, given Nigeria’s disproportionate share of the global malaria burden. Beyond a single product, however, authorities expect the zone to foster technology transfer and deepen local value chains, strengthening the overall healthcare manufacturing ecosystem.
The licensing of Harvestfield FTZ signals a concrete step in Nigeria’s long-term effort to build domestic industrial capacity, reduce import dependency, and transform its healthcare sector from a market for foreign goods into a potential exporter.
