ADDIS ABABA – Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., an Osaka-headquartered multinational fast-moving consumer goods and OTC (over-the-counter drugs) pharmaceutical corporation, is considering pharmaceutical investment in Ethiopia, it was learned.
A delegation of Rohto Pharmaceutical, led by the company’s Deputy General Manager Suna Yan, visited Ethiopia and held a discussion with Ethiopian officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa. State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Aklilu Hailemichael received the delegation on March 13, 2018.
Dr. Aklilu briefed the delegation on potential investment opportunities and prospective manufacturing possibilities in Ethiopia, and took note of Ethiopia’s huge potentials and the already established platforms for investments in the manufacturing sector. As Ethiopia imports 80% of pharmaceutical products, he said, investing in the sector would significantly enhance import substitution schemes, thereby reduce Ethiopia’s foreign currency costs. Apart from assortment of investment incentives, he added, Ethiopia has made Free Trade Agreements with 15 countries, offering the country huge market opportunities in the USA and EU under different initiatives.
Ms. Suna Yan expressed the company’s readiness to engage in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, skin care and eye care products as well as collaborate with local eye care centers and companies in Ethiopia. She also noted her company’s keenness to establish a manufacturing plant in the industrial parks dedicated to Pharmaceuticals manufacturing.
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While noting that her company had established businesses in African countries, like Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa and other West African countries, Ms. Suna Yan underscored the significance of operating in Ethiopia as it opens an opportunity to export its products to Eastern and Northern Africa and the Middle East. She added, with around 700,000 cataract patients in Ethiopia and only 10% of them so far having the chance for treatment, it is an high time that her company establishes businesses in Ethiopia and engages more with universities and research organizations in the country.