The pharmaceutical entrepreneur succeeds Francis Meshioye as president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, bringing decades of experience in manufacturing and industry representation to the role.
Dr Ifeanyi Okoye, Chief Executive Officer of Juhel Nigeria Limited, has been elected the 12th president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), succeeding Francis Meshioye, who completed his four-year tenure.
Okoye’s election took place at MAN’s 54th Annual General Meeting on Wednesday. The association’s Director-General, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, announced his emergence in a statement issued on Friday.
A pharmacist and industrial entrepreneur, Okoye founded Juhel Nigeria Limited in 1987. The wholly indigenous pharmaceutical manufacturing company is headquartered in Enugu State and has expanded its production capabilities over the years.
Okoye holds a pharmacy degree from the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, as well as master’s and doctorate degrees in Pharmaceutical Technology and Industrial Pharmacy from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he graduated as the best student in his class.
The company moved to its permanent site in Emene, Enugu, in December 1989 before adding syrup and capsule production facilities in 2001. In 2010, it opened a major parenteral manufacturing facility in Awka, Anambra State.
He is a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and an alumnus of Harvard Business School in the United States. He is also a member of the National Institute, having attended the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, Plateau State.
In 2012, the Federal Government conferred on him the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR).
Okoye has served on several public-sector committees, including the Ministerial Committee on the Establishment of World-Class Hospitals and Diagnostic Centres between 2013 and 2015. He also served on the Governing Council of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria from 2009 to 2022.
His election follows decades of involvement in MAN’s activities. He served as chairman of the association’s Enugu, Anambra and Ebonyi states branches between 1998 and 2005 before becoming its vice-president from 2006 to 2010.
Okoye assumes leadership of the association at a time when Nigerian manufacturers continue to face high production costs, infrastructure deficits, foreign exchange pressures and other constraints affecting industrial competitiveness.
His tenure will place him at the head of an industry association that represents manufacturers across multiple sectors and engages with government and other stakeholders on policies affecting industrial production and investment.
