One of Ghana’s leading pharmaceutical retail brands, Prime Pharmacy on Thursday 14th April 2022, officially unveiled its ultra-modern 14th retail branch located on the East Legon Acheampong Road.
The ceremony was graced by the Egyptian High Commissioner to Ghana Aldesouky Mahmoud Youssef, Hon. Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Herbert Krapa among others who supported the official unveiling of another Prime brand.
The new branch is opened to serve and meet the healthcare needs of people within East Legon and its environs as well as those from far. Prime Pharmacy has been in existence for the past 14 years.
In his welcome address, the Board Chairman of Prime Pharmacy, Mr. Charles Forson expressed excitement with the singular privilege to once again introduce the flagship brand Prime Pharmacy to the people.
He revealed that this milestone is the vision towards a long-term future to reach a 3-digit number of outlets across the nation in the retail pharmacy sector.
“We, are now in the two-digits and the focus is to grant quality pharmacy solutions in every community,” he said.
He also bemoaned the excessive importation of drugs and pharmaceuticals into Ghana which always put the Ghana Cedi under pressure against major foreign currencies.
He was also optimistic and mentioned that “this initiative will also help strengthen the Ghana Cedi as we know that the depreciation of the Cedi is mainly driven by the excessive importation of everything pharmaceutical in Ghana. It will also help reduce unemployment.”
On that note, he further indicated that within Prime’s framework as well as within the short to medium term, there have been advanced plans to operationalize the manufacturing unit which will be under the auspices of the 1-D 1-F, a government flagship project.
He continued…..“To help address the over-dependence on the importation of everything pharmaceutical, the organization has refocused its overall objective by taking steps to venture into pharmaceutical manufacturing.”
“And to add it, the building is already in place and we will be going to the Trade Ministry for the able support of government. We believe government through the Ministry of Trade will support Prime Pharmacy through this very line of business which will help reduce the importation of some drugs into the country,” Mr. Charles Forson stated.
Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, the Hon. Herbert Krapa, who was the Special Guest of Honour disclosed that steps are being taken by the government to develop a policy called the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Development Policy.
He mentioned that this is intended to attract investments both domestically and internationally into the pharmaceutical industry.
He was particularly happy that Prime Pharmacy was taking the steps to move from retailing into large-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Touching on COVID-19, he said hard lessons during the pandemic has shown that we can’t continue to rely on international supplies for the consumption that we have in Ghana.
“We need to be able to break the supply chain and be domestic in terms of the value chains that we create. And that is why your participation in that industry is very important and for government, once this policy is fully operational, will continue to help you with joint ventures with international partners to be able to create pharmaceutical manufacturing in Ghana.
The good news is that Ghana’s pharmaceutical products meet the highest standards in the West African sub-region,” he said.
He continued….“When you talk about West Africa Ghana ranks highest in terms of the pharmaceutical products that are coming into the region and are being exported into Africa; and that is because, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) is very stringent in the policies, and the need for standards adherence to ensure that manufacturers are adhering to those standards and meeting the WHO good manufacturing practices standards.
He commended the Board Chairman of Prime Pharmacy, Mr. Charles Forson for taking a keen interest in the government’s flagship policy the 1-District 1-Factory.
He used the occasion to outline and highlight some benefits companies are likely to derive from the 1-D 1-F programme.
“There are a lot of benefits under the 1 District 1 Factory programme. You import your inputs as well as your equipment and machinery duty-free quota free, corporate tax holidays for five years; as well as once you are an indigenous Ghanaian company if you take a loan from any of the participating financial institutions and banks under the 1-D 1-F, there is a 50% subsidy of your loan interest.
This is to enable and cushion you and to ensure that indigenous Ghanaian businesses are also climbing up the ladder and enjoying the benefits that we have within the manufacturing space,” he said.
He further pledged his full support and commitment on the part of government for Prime Pharmacy. “I believe that being here today opening this brand with you, I should be part of the story of the opening of your own manufacturing factory very soon, you have my full support.
As you know so far, there are over 284 factories and 106 are currently operational and we will make sure that you get all necessary support to open your own pharmaceutical manufacturing factory.”
