PARIS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi has started construction of a new 70 million-euro ($95 million)plant in Algeria that will be its largest industrial site inAfrica, the company said on Thursday.
Sanofi, the international drug company with the biggestsales in Africa, already has two other manufacturing sites inAlgeria and Chief Executive Chris Viehbacher described Africaearlier this year as "an extremely interesting market".
With new opportunities opening up for treating chronicdiseases afflicting Africa's middle classes, rather than justfire-fighting infections, the region is attracting growingattention from European drug firms like Sanofi andGlaxoSmithKline.
According to forecasts by pharmaceuticals consultancy IMSHealth, medicine spending in Africa is expected to reach $30billion by 2016, driven by an annual growth rate of more than 10percent.