Codix Group Dinner: Professor Lere Baale Calls For Dedicated Healthcare Funding To Sustain Industrial Growth

<h4>Codix Group Dinner<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that Professor Lere Baale has called for institutionalised dedicated&comma; long-term healthcare funding to sustain the country’s emerging healthcare industrial boom and secure its future as a regional healthcare manufacturing hub&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This was part of the remarks Professor Lere Baale as the keynote speaker at the <strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Codix Group<&sol;a><&sol;strong> Dinner themed <strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Sustaining Nigeria’s Healthcare Industrial Boom&colon; The Need for Dedicated Healthcare Funding&period;”<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In his keynote address&comma; the renowned Professor of Pharmacy Prof&period; Baale noted that Nigeria’s current healthcare transformation as a historic but fragile moment that requires deliberate financial architecture to endure&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to him&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Nigeria is experiencing a healthcare industrial awakening—a shift from dependency to capability&comma; from imports to local value creation&period; The boom is real&comma; however&comma; there is a call for us to sustain it&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine;He said Nigeria’s healthcare and pharmaceutical ecosystem has undergone a quiet but profound transformation in recent years&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Indigenous manufacturers are expanding production capacity&comma; diagnostic firms are investing in local assembly and innovation&comma; regulatory confidence is improving&comma; skilled professionals are returning&comma; and regional and international partnerships are deepening&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He attributed this progress to a convergence of necessity and leadership&comma; driven by lessons from global supply chain disruptions&comma; the COVID-19 pandemic&comma; foreign exchange volatility&comma; and more intentional regulatory alignment with national industrial priorities&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;What we are witnessing is not just growth&semi; it is industrial possibility—the emergence of healthcare as a strategic pillar of national development&comma;” he said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;32519" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-32519" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-32519" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;01&sol;Codix-bio-logo-1024x340-1-300x100&period;png" alt&equals;"Codix Group Dinner&colon; Professor Lere Baale Calls For Dedicated Healthcare Funding To Sustain Industrial Growth" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"100" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-32519" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><em><strong>Codix Bio<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Despite these gains&comma; Prof&period; Baale warned that the absence of structured&comma; long-term&comma; affordable healthcare-specific financing threatens the sustainability of the sector&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He stressed that healthcare manufacturing is capital-intensive&comma; with long gestation periods&comma; heavy upfront investment&comma; stringent regulatory requirements&comma; advanced technology needs&comma; and a reliance on highly skilled human capital—yet it is often financed like short-term trading activity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;A healthcare industrial boom without dedicated funding is like a factory without power—it may exist&comma; but it cannot operate optimally&comma;”<&sol;strong> <&sol;em>he stated&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He called for dedicated healthcare funding is a strategic necessity that would stabilise supply&comma; improve quality and regulatory compliance&comma; create high-value jobs&comma; protect national security&comma; and attract global investment&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;He emphasised that medicines&comma; diagnostics&comma; and medical consumables should be treated as strategic national assets&comma; not ordinary commodities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Prof&period; Baale outlined a comprehensive seven-point framework aimed at institutionalising sustainable healthcare financing in Nigeria&period; This include- a call to increase the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">Basic Healthcare Provision Fund<&sol;a> &lpar;BHCPF&rpar; from the current one per cent to three per cent of consolidated government revenue&comma; reflecting the strategic importance of healthcare to national productivity and security&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He further proposed that the expanded fund be strategically domiciled with the <strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Bank of Industry &lpar;BOI&rpar;&comma;<&sol;a><&sol;strong> working in close coordination with the Federal Ministry of Health and supported by structured Medipool arrangements at the state and local government levels to ensure efficient&comma; transparent&comma; and timely disbursement of funds&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;32518" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-32518" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-32518" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;01&sol;Baale-300x200&period;jpeg" alt&equals;"Codix Group Dinner&colon; Professor Lere Baale Calls For Dedicated Healthcare Funding To Sustain Industrial Growth" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"200" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-32518" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><em><strong>&lpar;L-R&rpar; CEO&comma; Business School Netherlands Prof Lere Baale&semi; GMD&sol;CEO&comma; Codix Group&comma; Mr Sammy Ogunjimi and founder and CEO&comma; Pharmaplus Nigeria Limited&comma; Pharm Ahmed Yakasai during the Codix Group dinner which  held in Sagamu&comma; Ogun State&comma; Nigeria<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>He also stressed the need for strict payment discipline across the healthcare value chain&comma; recommending a guaranteed payment turnaround time of no more than 30 days to ensure cash-flow predictability&comma; which he described as critical to manufacturing sustainability&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He also called for the establishment of a revolving healthcare fund to ensure continuity and long-term capital availability&comma; rather than reliance on one-off interventions&period; Prof&period; Baale further called for the implementation of a guaranteed sales and offtake framework to provide market assurance&comma; encourage capacity expansion&comma; and support quality improvements across the sector&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Collectively&comma; he noted that these measures would create a mutually reinforcing&comma; win-win architecture—securing reliable supply for government&comma; enabling sustainable scale for industry&comma; reducing risk for banks&comma; attracting investor confidence&comma; and ultimately improving access to quality healthcare products and services for citizens&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He called on banks to evolve into development partners&comma; policymakers to treat healthcare as infrastructure investment rather than expenditure&comma; regulators to continue balancing safety with growth&comma; and institutional investors to recognise healthcare as a long-term value sector&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;