A sovereign wealth fund from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a diversified industrial Korean firm had signed a memorandum of understanding for the formation of a joint venture enterprise in West Africa. The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, or ICD, signed an agreement with Kolon Group of South Korea to invest in a pharmaceutical plant in Cote d'Ivoire. The ICD is the private sector arm of the Jeddah, Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank Group.
The group of investors wanted to set up a joint venture company in the Western African region. They will start by investing in a pharmaceutical plant in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire and by engaging in the marketing of pharmaceutical products in West Africa.
ICD chief executive officer and general manager, Khalid Al Aboodi, stated that this partnership intends to provide accessible medicine and other medical drugs to the West African region. "Africa and the health care industry are key strategic directions for ICD and we hope via this kind of strategic partnership, it will help to further increase our presence in the continent and in the medicine sector," Khalid Al-Aboodi explained.
"Kolon Group is very proud to cement relationship with ICD and to bring Kolon's recognized expertise in the pharmaceutical industry in Africa," Kolon Group senior executive vice president, Sang-Ho Shin, said.
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