A leading Moroccan pharmaceutical company, Cooper Pharma on Wednesday signed a deal that paves way for construction of a plant in Rwanda to manufacture antibiotics.
The plant is set to be operational in 2019. It will be built on a plot of 10,000 square metres in the Kigali Special Economic Zone in Rwanda’s Gasabo district.
The deal is one of the outcomes of talks between the government and the visiting high-level delegation from Morocco led by King Mohamed VI. The King arrived in the country on Tuesday for a three- day state visit.
According to the New Times, the drugs that will be locally produced include beta-lactam antibiotics, which are among the most commonly prescribed drugs, including Penicillin, grouped together based upon a shared structural feature, the beta-lactam ring.
Rwanda Development Board chief operating officer Serge Kamuhinda said that the deal will play a major role in reducing the trade deficit created by a heavy import bill.
The agreement is reportedly the second of its kind by Cooper Pharma, after the one previously signed in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
According to a statement, Cooper Pharma Laboratories and RDB signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of the first such pharmaceutical plant in Rwanda.
King Mohamed VI and his delegation are in Rwanda on the first leg of his three nation tour that will also see them visit Tanzania and Ethiopia.
