Pharmacy Business and Corporate Governance Tenets in South-West Nigeria

Community pharmacies constitute a critical component of Nigeria’s primary healthcare delivery system, particularly in South-West Nigeria where population density, urbanisation, and pharmaceutical demand are relatively high. Despite their strategic importance, the majority of pharmacy businesses in the region operate as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) or family-owned establishments with weak or informal corporate governance structures. This study examines the application of corporate governance principles to pharmacy business practice in South-West Nigeria and proposes a context-specific governance framework aimed at improving regulatory compliance, patient safety, financial sustainability, and long-term scalability.

A structured narrative review of statutory regulations, professional guidelines, and peer-reviewed literature relating to pharmacy practice, SME governance, and healthcare regulation was undertaken. Core governance tenets—including regulatory compliance, ownership and organisational structure, oversight mechanisms, financial control, risk management, ethics, stakeholder engagement, and succession planning—were synthesised and adapted to the operational realities of community pharmacies. Region-specific challenges such as unreliable power supply, circulation of counterfeit medicines, uneven distribution of registered pharmacists, and limited access to formal finance were identified and matched with pragmatic governance-based mitigation strategies.

The study proposes a four-layer integrated governance framework and introduces a 22-point governance monitoring scorecard designed for routine self-assessment and regulatory readiness. Practical governance tools, including a regulatory compliance checklist, governance charter outline, and incident reporting template, are presented to facilitate low-cost implementation. Policy implications for regulators and professional bodies are discussed, and directions for future empirical research are outlined.

This paper contributes a context-adapted corporate governance model that bridges regulatory expectations and everyday pharmacy operations, offering actionable guidance for pharmacy owners, managers, regulators, and researchers in South-West Nigeria.