Pharco and Rwanda Explore Local Pharmaceutical Manufacturing After Kigali Talks With President Kagame
Pharco's push into African manufacturing took a concrete step in February 2025, when chairman and chief executive Sherine Helmy travelled to Kigali and met Rwandan President Paul Kagame to discuss a potential partnership. The meeting was held on February 6 at the president's Village Urugwiro office, following talks Helmy's delegation had already held with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB). President Kagame confirmed the meeting himself on his official Facebook page, writing: "President Kagame also received Dr Sherine Abbas Helmy, CEO of Pharco Pharmaceuticals. They explored areas of partnership within the healthcare and pharmaceuticals sectors." The accompanying photo shows Helmy with Kagame and Rwandan officials at Village Urugwiro.
According to the RDB, those earlier discussions with chief executive Jean-Guy Africa covered expanding access to essential medicines, running clinical trials in Rwanda, and establishing local manufacturing operations there. Kagame and Helmy then discussed the wider partnership between the two sides in healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
The Kigali visit came about five months after Rwanda separately secured a €40 million grant from the European Union to expand its own pharmaceutical manufacturing, research, and regulatory capacity, part of a wider push by the Rwandan government to build a domestic drug industry. It also sits within a broader shift in Pharco's own strategy toward the continent: the company's chairman has pointed to Africa as a growth priority tied to the 2033 expiry of WTO intellectual-property exemptions for least-developed countries, and has spoken of building an integrated pharmaceutical manufacturing network across Africa that includes local production of raw materials rather than relying solely on exports from Egypt.
The relationship between Pharco and Rwanda's health authorities has continued since. At Africa Health ExCon 2026 in Cairo, Emile Bienvenu, Chairman of the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority, visited Pharco's exhibition stand and was briefed on the company's products and manufacturing capabilities.
At the time of the Kigali meeting, Pharco held roughly 13 percent of Egypt's pharmaceutical market, produced around 500 generic and over-the-counter drugs, and manufactured the hepatitis C treatment Gratisovir under its own brand. No manufacturing agreement specific to Rwanda has been announced publicly since the February 2025 meeting.
Pharco Corporation — Pharco press release.
