The government of Ethiopia has hailed the advent of cheaper medicines with the promised opening of a new Chinese pharmaceutical plant in the country.
Humanwell Healthcare, China’s biggest pharmaceutical manufacturing company, will invest $91m (2 billion Birr) for the construction of a plant in Ethiopia – its second investment destination on the continent, after Mali, in West Africa.
The plant will produce tablets, capsules, injections and syrups when operational within the next two years (Wikimedia Commons)
The factory is to be constructed in the Hageremaraim Kesem district of Amhara, located approximately 65km north of Addis Ababa, reports Addis Fortune.
"When the plant is completed, the prices of medicine for locals will be low," said Mebratu Melese, Ethiopia’s state minister for industry.
The plant will produce tablets, capsules, injections and syrups when operational within the next two years.
The local pharmaceutical industry comprises 22 pharmaceutical and medical suppliers and manufacturers, with nine directly involved in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products, said Addis Fortune.
