Online Reporter
Nyore Madzianike
Senior Reporter
THE National Pharmaceutical Company of Zimbabwe (NatPharm) is prioritising digital transformation and strengthening its inventory management systems to improve efficiency and accountability, as it seeks to grow its revenue to about US$260 million by 2030.
Last year, the pharmaceutical company managed to achieve US$25 million in revenue.
The national pharmaceutical firm also aims to increase local production to 40 percent from the current 15 percent as part of its long-term strategy.
NatPharm board chairperson Professor Chiratidzo Ellen Ndlovu outlined the organisation’s recapitalisation plans and operational targets when they appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden on Tuesday.
Prof Ndlovu identified rising fuel costs, partly driven by conflict in the Middle East, as one of the major constraints impacting delivery efficiency.
“The last bit is about the delivery, the completion rate, basically, we are saying every so often we have to deliver medicines to our facilities and we are only managing to do about 62 percent of that, and there are reasons for that.
“Right now, I suppose one of the challenges that will probably come up is the fact that obviously fuel has gone up, but we need trucks, we need drivers, we need to be able to deliver these medicines to the last mile.
“So, this is just really a summary of what Natpharm does- procurement, storage, distribution.”
Prof Ndlovu said the company is prioritising digital transformation and strengthening its inventory management systems to improve efficiency and accountability.
She added that efforts are underway to modernise procurement and supply chain systems.
“We talk about manufacturing, but we are not quite there yet, but we have ideas of how we can try and do that,” she said.
“So, what we are hoping to do now is to modernise how we procure these medicines, how we supply them.
“I suppose this is the right time for Natpharm to mention that we need to have good IT systems, we need to be able to know what is in our warehouses, how much the facilities need, be able to move those medicines to the facilities in a manner that keeps them safe.
“I am sure you are probably going to come up and say, oh things might disappear on the roof, but we do need to have systems in place that will make sure that what we have in our warehouse is delivered to where it is required without any losses on the way.”
Prof Ndlovu said financial sustainability, workforce development and ethical practices remain critical to the company’s long-term success.
“We also need to think about our workforce. Natpharm has some vacancies that need to be filled, and we need to make sure that we can also contribute to the capacity development of our workforce,” she said.
“Then finally, obviously, all of this needs to be done to make sure that we are doing things ethically and can be accountable for what we are delivering on the ground.”
