Côte d’Ivoire to adopt Nigeria’s drug regulation model

By Precious Mark

A delegation from Côte d’Ivoire’s pharmaceutical authority has revealed that it will be adopting Nigeria’s regulatory framework for medicine safety.

The visiting officials from the Autorité Ivoirienne de Régulation Pharmaceutique (AIRP) arrived in Abuja to meet with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Tuesday for a seven-day technical benchmarking study aimed at preparing Côte d’Ivoire to attain World Health Organization (WHO) Maturity Level 3 (ML3) status.

The strategic engagement positions NAFDAC as a regional anchor for regulatory excellence, leveraging its status as one of the few national regulatory authorities in Africa to achieve and maintain the WHO ML3 rating.

During the intensive seven-day technical engagement, AIRP officials will gain firsthand exposure to NAFDAC’s regulatory systems, operational procedures, and quality management frameworks across key administrative functions.

Key focus areas include clinical trial oversight, market surveillance protocols, regulatory decision-making, post-market monitoring, Good Clinical Practice (GCP) inspections, and digital transformation in drug regulation.

The bilateral initiative aligns with broader Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) directives aimed at harmonizing pharmaceutical standards, boosting local manufacturing capacity, and eradicating substandard and falsified medical products across sub-Saharan Africa.

By mentoring neighboring regulatory authorities, NAFDAC continues to drive regional integration while safeguarding public health access to safe, high-quality, and efficacious medicines across the West African sub-region.