HAPPY 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION TO DCL LABORATORY PRODUCTS LTD.

DCL Laboratory Products Ltd., also known as DCL, celebrates her 20th year anniversary tagged: “Celebrating the Impactful Healthcare Marketplace, Heralding Local IVD Manufacturing.”

PROBLEM

Twenty years ago, there was a giant gap to fill in Nigeria’s medical industry. Many vendors of clinical laboratory equipment, reagents, and consumables were mostly non-medical professionals who lacked the required professionalism to sell and distribute such goods.

Consequently, the open market sold these sensitive products with little or no consideration for their environmental conditions. Many hospitals and laboratories that are subscribers to the services of these traditional market suppliers paid immense prices in terms of erroneous laboratory reports due to the compromised qualities of their working tools.

START OF TWO DECADES OF RESILIENCE AND PATIENT SAFETY

DCL was founded with a strong desire to introduce reforms in the management of patient samples in the laboratory.

Based on the foregoing, DCL came into the laboratory market space to help the healthcare industry in Nigeria to eliminate such an embarrassing trend through the provision of quality, sustainable, and pocket-friendly healthcare diagnostic solutions.

DCL Laboratory Products Ltd was incorporated in 2005 and started operations in 2006 at a small office space in Rumokoro, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. As of then, the company began its operation with 5 staff members, including the MD, one driver, one salesperson, one service engineer, and one administrative staff member. From then on until date, DCL has grown to become a key player in the IVD market in Nigeria.

VALUABLE SERVICE OFFERINGS THROUGH VIBRANT GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS

As an ISO 9001:2015 certified company, DCL has uniquely occupied a niche in the IVD market, providing unparalleled customer service and values for our immediate community by providing quality and sustainable laboratory solutions, supplying installation and maintenance of medical lab equipment, reagents, and consumables, providing affordable products and services, providing after-sales support and extended warranty obligations, and supporting laboratories in the areas of clinical chemistry, hematology, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, blood banking, molecular pathology, immunology, and microbiology, among others.

As a result of strong partnerships with world-acclaimed manufacturers of laboratory products, DCL has been able to help enhance quality health care, increase handling and logistic efficiencies, and expand access to healthcare infrastructure.

In 2005, DCL Laboratory Products Ltd was established, thus serving as a link between European manufacturers of diagnostic equipment and Nigerian laboratories. Dr. Anyanwu liaised with many reputable and world-acclaimed manufacturers of clinical laboratory equipment, reagents, and consumables.

OUR CUSTOMERS

With a large customer database and expanding operations in the West Africa subregion, DCL partners with healthcare organizations locally and around the world to support their roles in addressing some of the most challenging local and global health issues. Our customers include private sector companies, private equity firms, venture capitalists, NGOs, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, public hospitals, secondary and tertiary hospitals, international donor agencies, and various international organizations.

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

DCL Laboratory Products Limited is indeed bridging the huge gap in Nigeria’s medical industry, thanks to the vision, doggedness, wit, wisdom, and leadership prowess of the founder, Dr. Okechukwu Anyanwu, GMD/CEO of the DCL Group. And he is massively supported by loyal and passionate deputies projecting his exceptional leadership that inspired entire employees to embrace his powerful vision of patient safety and the transformation of humanity through sustainable and long-term healthcare solutions.

DR. OKECHUKWU ANYANWU, GMD/CEO of the DCL Group

Dr. Anyanwu is a talented medical laboratory scientist, a business leader, and an entrepreneur with over 25 years of proven field experience in Nigeria and Europe, which has earned him both local and international recognition. He has a tremendous passion for the development of clinical laboratory practice in Nigeria and West Africa at large.

At a time when medical laboratory practice and practitioners were seeking ways to sustain their relevance, diversity, and innovative edge in the healthcare industry, Dr. Anyanwu pioneered DCL Laboratory Products Ltd. out of a burning desire to make a genuine impact on the lives of many through relentless pursuit of patient safety policy, as well as providing clinicians and medical laboratory scientists a platform to be proud of.

EMPLOYEES

As a true Nigerian company and strategic regional player, DCL has 248 personnel across West Africa providing instruments, consumables, and support to various hospitals, laboratories, and research centers. These highly motivated men and women were drawn from different cultural and geopolitical divides in our country and subregion, reflecting true diversity, which DCL now harnesses as one of her key internal strengths.

The DCL graduate internship program has enabled many unskilled young graduates to achieve job placements at reputable organizations; DCL has been on the front line of this engagement.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

DCL’s social investment drive was also very notable. To continually enhance the social value of its immediate community, DCL, through its CSR scheme, made key donations and investments in many hospitals across the country. Instruments and ancillaries, which include validated reagents, refrigerators, cold chain transport kits, temperature monitoring devices, PPEs, infection control items, consumables, etc. All these donations and investments aligned with DCL’s patient safety policy, helping customers achieve patient safety in their operations, and a few hospitals received accreditations because of this support. DCL CSR projects also incorporated capacity building, a crucial component for continuous quality improvements in our clinical laboratories. Over 2000 laboratory professionals have been trained at different times on a range of topics, from the use of new diagnostic tools to preanalytical training, clinical meetings, webinars, workshops, etc.

MILESTONES

As a trailblazer in the marketplace for medical laboratory solutions, DCL led with many initiatives, starting with her passionate but daring journey to change the narratives in the downstream healthcare marketplace.

There are long lists of accomplishments by DCL in the laboratory landscape of the healthcare industry, but some of the enumerations below not only stand out but are also impactful in healthcare service delivery in our region.

• Haemostasias studies in the earliest stages were conducted using improvised tools, which were fraught with errors and delays. To bridge this gap in 2007, DCL collaborated with a German firm to introduce one of the oldest four-channel coagulometers but the first of its kind in the market for coagulation. Today, some of the devices are still deployed for use and have existed for the owners for over 10 years.
• In 2009 and 2010, DCL introduced the first functional apheresis machine to the country and organized a free training workshop at the National Hospital auditorium in Abuja. Several laboratory scientists and consultant hematologists nationwide were also invited and trained. Patients who needed platelets, fresh frozen plasma, packed cells, therapeutic plasma exchange, therapeutic leukocyte reduction, and those with low platelet counts were easily treated using the apheresis machine (MCS+).
• In 2012, DCL Laboratory Products Ltd supplied, installed, trained, and supported the stem cell department of UBTH in setting up the Bone Marrow Transplant Center, which led to the first successful bone marrow transplantation, and which has saved the lives of many Nigerians with sickle cell disease.
• DCL Laboratory Products Ltd launched the first immunohistochemistry robot with FISH and ISH in Abuja in March 2014, a technology that revolutionizes cancer prognosis in West Africa and brings hope to many.
• DCL began to expand across West African countries, particularly those where English is spoken, to support the founder’s strong desire to make a genuine impact on many lives through a relentless search for patient safety policies. By this passion for the well-being of Africans, DCL country offices were incorporated as independent entities as follows: DCL Ghana (2012), DCL Liberia (2014), DCL Sierra Leone (2016), and DCL Gambia (2024).
• DCL investment in allergology bridged the gaps in quantitative allergy testing, which was elusive owing to outdated traditional qualitative diagnosis of allergy and complex technologically advanced solutions that all fall short of naming an allergen. For more than a decade, from 2015, DCL introduced a lifesaving solution in allergy diagnosis, helping our teaming clients to identify and isolate allergens without administration of drugs. Today, the allergy device has become a revolution that has been changing the narrative for those suffering from various forms of allergic exposures from food, air, and even intermediary sources.
• In 2017, DCL Laboratory products were audited and subsequently certified for the ISO9001:2015 Quality Management System. DCL was the first and the only Nigerian laboratory vendor to achieve this height in our region at that time.
• In 2022, DCL introduced the first-ever artificial intelligence-enabled devices deployed for malaria disease diagnostics, monitoring, and case management. It is the first of its kind in our market, and this goes to show DCL’s impactful edge in the landscape of laboratory medicine provision.
• To bring speed and accuracy and prioritize infectious disease control in the parasitology workbench, DCL launched another artificial intelligence-embedded device for stool microscopy and colon cancer diagnosis in 2025.
• Also, in this subsisting year 2025, in many firsts for DCL across the West African subregion, and to cap these two decades of incredible innovations with high-end clinical laboratory innovations, DCL has introduced the first total laboratory automation (TLA) in West Africa. A walk-away diagnostic infrastructure with minimal human input. You can read more about this solution on our website at dcllabx.com.
• Every other year has seen remarkable accomplishments at DCL. But 2025, marking two decades of innovation, inventiveness, and ingenuity, has culminated in a tangible legacy: DCL has collaborated with its partners to build an IVD manufacturing facility locally. This remarkable achievement is largely due to the dynamic and resilient GMD/CEO, whose tireless efforts and contributions have significantly advanced healthcare. We are immensely proud of his contribution in siting and operating an IVD manufacturing footprint in Nigeria. While we join the rest of the citizens to applaud this uncommon achievement, we implore our government authorities and the citizens alike to continue to deliver their quotas in terms of policy and patronage that would help to protect our company and other nascent firms springing up in our country.
• With a business model driven exclusively by organic growth, DCL presence and impact in the IVD market became palpable. As a result, DCL was adjudged to be the Laboratory Supply Company of the Year for eight times (Nigeria) and in the subsisting year (West Africa at large). Many reputable quality-driven institutions across Africa and the world at large have continued to recognize DCL.

THIS IS TO DCL, MANY HEARTY CHEERS FOR:

• Continuous streams of innovation and ingenuity in the past 20 years.
• Nonstop investments in medical laboratory support in the past 20 years
• 20 years of exceptional patriotism and development in Nigeria.
• 20 years of uncompromised patient safety and lasting impact in the healthcare sector.
• 20 years of humanity through genuine desire for everyone’s wellness.

The milestones accomplished by DCL in these years of existence would have been impossible without the support of the highly dedicated and innovative employees. Thank you to our team of staff members and our partners for all these remarkable and outstanding achievements in the past 20 years.

We have equally enjoyed valuable partnerships with both our manufacturers and teaming clients across West Africa. Thank you for such a formidable partnership with our teaming customers and employees.

It has been 20 years of outstanding collaborations; let’s do it again for better health outcomes for our populace!

Join us to celebrate DCL, the Impactful Marketplace Player.

Head Office:

DCL House Plot 1299,
Funmilayo Ransome Kuti Road,
Area 3 Garki, Abuja – Nigeria.

Tel: +234 810 405 8581, +234 909 999 5259, +234 704 555 1222,
PMB 690, Garki Abuja
Email: sales@dcllabx.com, info@dcllabx.com
Website: www.dcllabx.com