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LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline plansto make new investments in additional factories and drugresearch in Africa, its chief executive said on Sunday, as thepharmaceuticals group broadens its bet on promising emergingmarkets.
Andrew Witty said the continent was important for theBritish company's long-term growth, adding that the investment would create jobs and build up healthcare capacity in a keyregion.
"The transformation of Africa into a successful growthregion is one area that we need to focus on," Witty wrote in theSunday Telegraph newspaper.
GSK, which already makes drugs in Kenya, Nigeria and SouthAfrica, is now looking at sites for additional facilities incountries including Ghana, Ethiopia and Rwanda, a companyspokeswoman said.
Witty will set out details of GSK's multimillion-pound investment plans for Africa at a conference in Brussels onMonday.
Sub-Saharan Africa currently accounts for only around 500million pounds ($830 million) of GSK's annual sales, whichtotalled 26.5 billion pounds in 2013, but the group seespotential for significantly greater sales in future as Africaneconomies grow.
In particular, new opportunities are opening up for treatingchronic diseases afflicting the middle classes, rather than justfire-fighting infections.
Non-communicable diseases like heart disease, lungdisorders, diabetes and cancer are expected to account for 46percent of all deaths in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, up from 28percent in 2008, according to the World Bank.
GSK has been stepping up its exposure to many of the world'sdeveloping economies by increasing local sales forces, strikingdeals and buying out minority shareholders in certain subsidiarybusinesses.
Last week it took full control of its consumer healthcareunit in Indonesia, after recently increasing its stake in localunits in India.
Witty has made emerging markets a key growth platform forGSK and has stuck with the strategy despite recent problems inChina, where sales have been hit by bribery allegations.
($1=0.6011 pounds) (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
