Square Pharmaceuticals Kenya EPZ Ltd, a subsidiary of Square Pharmaceuticals, recently received an approval to produce pharmaceutical medicine and sell them in the East African Community (EAC).
Any production in Kenya is considered local manufacturing in the EAC, which includes Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.
The factory, which will be the largest in East and Central Africa, was in its final stages of getting operational licenses from the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, according to Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development Betty Maina.
It is a big achievement for Bangladesh as Square Pharma is going to manufacture drugs in a foreign country, Muhammad Zahangir Alam, CFO of the company, told the media.
Thanks to the approval, there is no problem in starting commercial production now, he said.
Some time is needed to start marketing of any drug in a brand-new factory, Alam added.
Once the marketing starts in full swing, the east African region would be covered from this factory, he said.
The offshore plant is set to help the company diversify its supply chain and mitigate any impact of Bangladesh's LDC graduation a decade later.
Square looks to get hold of the $30 million drug market in Kenya and five other East African countries — Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and South Sudan — and fulfill the unmet demands of medicines in those countries.
The company had extended its range of services towards the highway of the global market, pioneering exports of medicines from Bangladesh in 1987 and has been exporting antibiotics and other pharmaceutical products.
It currently has an export market that covers 42 countries manifesting the credibility of Square Pharmaceuticals Limited, as per the company.
The Bangladesh Bank earlier gave permission to four private business entities to invest $10 million in foreign countries in a major leap forward for reining in capital flight alongside easing global marketing of local products.
As one of the permitted companies, Square Pharmaceuticals will also invest $1 million in the Philippines, opening up an opportunity for the company to gain a foothold in the import-dependent $6 billion pharmaceutical market — the third-largest in the Asean region.
Square had been waiting to begin manufacturing in its newly built Kenyan plant much earlier.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the commencement of operation abroad, according to the official of the company.
The Kenyan project is financed by a 40:60 debt to equity ratio.
As a part of the investment, a total amount of $12 million has been remitted by Square Pharmaceuticals to Square Pharmaceuticals Kenya EPZ Ltd.
