Africa

Acino Africa operates in 25 countries: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South African, Tanzania, Uganda.

A long-established and proven track record

The origin of Acino dates back to 1836 when the company was founded around a saltworks operation near Basel, Switzerland. In 2017, Acino acquired Litha Healthcare to expand its footprint in the Southern African market. This was also a significant milestone for Acino, as it helped to strengthen its position in the Central East Africa and Mauritian pharmaceutical landscape, making innovative healthcare products and expertise accessible.

Since then, the group developed its portfolio to add more high-quality medicines and broaden its offering in key therapeutic areas and markets. In 2020, Acino completed the acquisition of Takeda’s primary care portfolio. Two years later, we confirmed the acquisition of six prescription medicines from Aspen, valued at over R1.8 billion (€105 million). In 2023, Acino entered into an exclusive agreement to market and sell several Janssen products.

Acino is here to grow

Acino is passionate about making high-quality medicines and devices accessible to Africans for a healthier tomorrow. We are committed to bringing more value to our patients, physicians and the communities we live and work in.

With our well-established product pipeline and long-standing relationships with licensing partners we are well positioned to achieve our vision of making a difference in the African healthcare sector, said John Norman, Head of Acino Africa.

With our stated vision of investing in local healthcare, Acino is investing in new treatments, businesses, and partnerships to increase access to quality, affordable healthcare as well as in education and skills development.

Commitment to Africa

For many organisations, the ultimate goal of business is to be profitable, but for Acino, there’s more to it than this. Our diversity philosophy resonates with South Africa’s philosophy of equal opportunity, which is why the organisation prides itself on the B-BBEE Level 1 status that it has achieved for 3 consecutive years. Find out more

We also remain keenly aware that with our growth comes greater responsibility to all our stakeholders. Acino makes a concerted effort to provide local employment and upskilling through learnerships and investing in initiatives such as the Youth Employment Service (YES4Youth) launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in March 2018 to combat youth unemployment in South Africa. Find out more

We are committed to remaining one of the greatest places to work in South Africa and across the country. Acino South Africa has been recognised and certified as a Top Employer for the third year in a row. Being recognised for our efforts to achieve excellence in people practices makes it all worthwhile. Find out more

Acino is becoming a name synonymous with quality, affordable healthcare. A global vision and local approach show the industry that international power combined with homegrown, underground experience and leadership can improve the healthy development of a nation.