Top industry leaders and experts have called on community pharmacists in Lagos to embrace value creation, strategic negotiation, and advanced business skills to remain competitive in an evolving healthcare landscape.
Speaking at the Day 2 session of the 2025 Continuing Education Conference of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Lagos State Chapter, held at Yard 158 Event Centre, Oregun, Lagos, top executives, including Pharm. Olakunle Ekundayo, chairman of Drugfield Pharmaceuticals; Dr Foluke Ayeni, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos; and Mr Ziad Maloouf, managing director of 7UP Bottling Company, emphasised the need for pharmacists to rethink their business strategies, leverage collaboration, and adopt innovative approaches to enhance profitability and professional impact.
Delivering his lecture, Maloouf underscored the importance of strategic business practices, negotiation, and perception in driving profitability and business growth. He illustrated his message with a real-life case study on the power of negotiation, narrating how an entrepreneur struggled with high production costs, buying raw materials for N9,000 and selling the finished product for only N9,500. Through targeted negotiation strategies, the entrepreneur eventually secured materials at N3,800 and enhanced his product’s perceived value, increasing its price by 50 percent.
Emphasising the concept of “willingness to pay,” Maloouf explained that consumers do not merely purchase products; they invest in value, status, and perception. Drawing a comparison between a N10,000 Onitsha shoe, a N150,000 Nike sneaker, and a N2 million Prada shoe, he illustrated how brand perception influences pricing. He noted that many businesses fail because they buy at high costs and sell below what customers are willing to pay. The key to success, he said, lies in reducing costs through better supplier negotiation and increasing willingness to pay by enhancing perceived value.
Applying these principles to community pharmacy practice, Maloouf urged pharmacists to leverage collective purchasing power to negotiate better bulk pricing, implement branding, improve customer experience, and introduce value-added services to increase their customers’ willingness to pay. He added that pharmacy is not just about selling drugs but about delivering value, emphasising that mastering cost reduction and value enhancement would lead to sustainable business models.
In her lecture titled “Mining the Treasures in Community Pharmacies through Collaboration and Research,” Dr Foluke Ayeni emphasised the untapped potential of research in community pharmacy and urged pharmacists to utilise data from their daily practice for meaningful research and policy development. She pointed out that many pharmacists engage in research without realising it and that by collaborating and analysing patient trends, medication adherence, and health outcomes, they can generate valuable insights to enhance pharmacy practice and healthcare delivery.
She also commended NAFDAC’s ongoing efforts to combat counterfeit drugs but stressed the need for a proactive approach in tracing the sources of fake medicines. She advised pharmacists to procure drugs only from licensed suppliers while calling on the government to strengthen regulatory oversight to prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the market.
Delivering his goodwill message, Pharm. Olakunle Ekundayo, underscored the need for continuous learning and collaboration in pharmacy practice. He praised ACPN Lagos for fostering discussions on business sustainability, innovation, and value-driven services. Ekundayo highlighted the significance of bulk purchasing among community pharmacists, urging them to explore partnerships with local manufacturers to reduce costs and ensure a steady supply of quality medications.
He also addressed critical challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry, including the open drug market crisis and the delay in implementing zero import duties on pharmaceutical raw materials. He noted that the sale of pharmaceuticals is a highly specialised field, yet many people handling drugs today lack the necessary expertise. While he commended enforcement efforts against the open drug market, he stressed the need for structured solutions such as pharmaceutical hubs where proper regulation can take place.
Ekundayo further lamented the lack of government incentives for local pharmaceutical manufacturers, pointing out that while imported finished products often enjoy duty waivers, local producers struggle with high costs. He noted that Nigeria imports about 70 to 80 percent of its pharmaceutical products while only 20 to 30 percent are produced locally, stressing that this imbalance should be reversed. Until local production is prioritised, he warned, the industry would remain vulnerable.
In his remarks, Pharm. Tolu Ajayi, chairman of ACPN Lagos State, outlined the objectives of the conference, emphasising the need for pharmacists to balance professional service with business sustainability. He highlighted the theme, “Transforming Community Pharmacy Practice Through Innovation, Collaboration, and Research,” as a call for pharmacists to embrace new strategies for growth.
Ajayi stressed the importance of collaboration within the pharmacy profession and across the healthcare sector, the role of research in driving informed decision-making, and the necessity of innovation to keep up with industry advancements. The conference concluded with a renewed commitment from stakeholders to drive positive change through strategic collaboration, research, and innovation, ensuring that community pharmacy remains both impactful and profitable in Nigeria’s evolving healthcare sector.
L-R: Pharm. Gafar Madehin, national secretary, PSN; Pharm. Mrs Foluke Akiniranye; Pharm. Tolu Ajayi, chairman, Lagos ACPN; Mr Ziad Maloouf, managing director, 7UP Bottling Company, and Pharm. Olakunle Ekundayo, chairman, Drugfield Limited, at the Lagos ACPN CEC 2025.
L-R: Pharm. Lawrence Ekhator, immediate past chairman, Lagos ACPN; Pharm. Olabanji Benedict Obideyi, former chairman, Lagos ACPN; Pharm. Aminu Yinka Abdulsalam, former chairman, Lagos ACPN; Pharm. Olakunle Ekundayo, chairman, Drugfield; Pharm. Tolu Ajayi, chairman, ACPN, Lagos, and Pharm. Mrs Abiola Paul-Ozieh, chairman, Lagos HCPAN, at the Lagos ACPN CEC 2025.
