Source: NatPharm to build drug manufacturing plants – herald
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Health Reporter
The National Pharmaceutical Company is moving to establish two pharmaceutical manufacturing plants and upgrade its warehousing infrastructure, marking a major strategic shift from its traditional role as a distributor to becoming a producer of medicines.
The transition is part of Government’s broader push to reduce reliance on imported drugs, strengthen local industry and enhance national health security under the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2).
NatPharm managing director Newman Madzikwa said the expansion forms part of efforts to meet Vision 2030 targets while supporting devolution.
“In NDS2, we are accelerating plans initiated under NDS1 to ensure that by 2030 we meet national expectations.
“We are planning to establish manufacturing facilities in different regions of the country, with at least two sites outside Harare in the spirit of promoting devolution,” he said.
Mr Madzikwa said groundwork for the transition has already begun, with the company clearing its old warehouse to make way for one of the planned manufacturing plants.
Operations have since been relocated to a newer facility, allowing NatPharm to repurpose the site for production, a move that signals a shift from storage-focused infrastructure to value-adding industrial capacity.
In addition to the new plants, the company is set to modernise its storage facilities to support a more efficient pharmaceutical supply chain.
“We are planning to bring it down and build a state-of-the-art warehouse that demonstrates that we are moving forward as a nation to build infrastructure capable of servicing an upper middle-income economy by 2030,” he said.
The developments are guided by the National Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Strategy, which seeks to build a competitive, resilient and innovation-driven local industry.
Currently, locally produced medicines account for less than 30 percent of Zimbabwe’s pharmaceutical market, with imports covering the bulk of demand.
However, the Government is targeting to increase local production to at least 60 percent by 2030.
Mr Madzikwa said NatPharm will play a dual role in achieving this target – by entering manufacturing while also supporting existing producers to scale up.
“Currently, with other players, we are at around 30 percent of market share. We are approaching this in two ways, supporting current manufacturers to increase capacity and, as we join the manufacturing sector, we will also be contributing, which will definitely increase capacity to 60 percent.”
The Government is also working to create a conducive environment for the sector through policy and regulatory reforms, including rationalising imports, strengthening the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe and offering targeted incentives to investors.
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