The ‘Business of Death’, is the name given to the lucrative counterfeit drug business in Africa. The business is a major contributor to the loss of tens of dollars and more than 200,000 lives each year. The pharmaceutical market in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa is worth $1.2 billion annually. 42% of this revenue goes to counterfeit drugs. About 126 million worth of counterfeit drugs were ceased at 16 African ports, 25% of which were headed for Nigeria. The country is considered the major hub of illegal drugs, with about 1,500 entry points. These drugs are sourced from China, India, Paraguay, and the UK. Watch the story at Business Africa.
Dear D –
Africa is an easy target for counterfeit drugs because of its overall struggling economy, poor regulation, oblivious consumers, as well as the rapidly growing pharmaceutical economy meant to cater for the growing population. The pharmaceutical industry is looking good, as McKinsey predicts the doubling or even tripling of revenues in the sector, to a figure of between $40 b and $60 b by the year 2020. Fakes have moved fast to take advantage of this market niche. While Africa cannot afford analytical devices to help them identify fake drugs, she is receiving support from the European Union and the IBM Bank, which is seeking a blockchain solution to end the fake drugs menace. Meanwhile, Africans from different countries are coming up with home-based innovations that can help consumers point out the fake drugs. These are True-Spec by Frank Verzefe of Cameroon, mPedigreee by Bright Simons of Ghana, and the FD detector app developed by five Nigerian teenage girls.