SOUTH AFRICA – Imperial and UbiPharm, both major logistics and distribution players in Africa’s healthcare industry, have announced the formation of a strategic alliance to create one of the continent’s most extensive healthcare distribution networks.

The goal of this strategic alliance is to provide complementary continental route-to-market solutions to healthcare principals and clients, allowing both companies to leverage each other’s operations and commercial services.

Imperial Logistics offers value-added logistics, supply chain management, and route-to-market solutions. Mohammed Akoojee, a South African, manages the company and owns a beneficial 0.19 percent stake.

While Imperial and UbiPharm will retain their respective business autonomies, the strategic alliance aims to improve access to medicines, vaccines, and other healthcare products for patients and consumers in 40 of Africa’s 54 recognized countries, becoming one of the continent’s most extensive healthcare distribution networks.

The collaboration will play an important role to provide complementary continental route-to-market solutions to healthcare principals and clients, leveraging best-in-class operations and commercial services.

Through this network, healthcare principals will have easy access to all activities critical to the availability of medicines, such as manufacturing, regulatory, promotion, and distribution.

As part of our purpose to connect Africa and the world and improve people’s lives, Imperial seeks to connect every African patient to quality healthcare, every day,” Imperial group CEO Mohammed Akoojee said in a statement, adding that the strategic alliance with UbiPharm was in line with fulfilling this ambition.

He noted that the alliance reflected Imperial’s ‘Gateway to Africa’ strategy, which was also aimed at expanding Imperial’s geographic footprint and reach throughout Africa, including in Anglophone, Francophone, and Lusophone African countries.

A pan-African solution such as this one bodes well for our principals, clients and customers and, more importantly, enhances healthcare through increased patient access to vital medicines that are critical for sustainable development of the African continent,” Akoojee said.

The Imperial-UbiPharm alliance also aims to meet the growing demand from the healthcare industry for a global, secure, and efficient continental solution in various African countries, in accordance with good distribution practices.

Our alliance with Imperial is aligned with our strategy, which is to continuously innovate in order to meet the changing needs of populations. This alliance will make it possible to strengthen access to health solutions on the African continent,” added UbiPharm group CEO Gérard Mangoua.

Through the synergies provided by this strategic alliance, Imperial and UbiPharm’s combined client base has received a one-of-a-kind and unprecedented offering in terms of development, consolidation, and access to new markets and territories.

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