For pharmaceutical companies, Africa is changing. Not only is the continent’s economic growth grabbing attention in boardrooms but the shifting nature of its disease burden is luring Big Pharma, as new opportunities open up for treating chronic diseases afflicting the middle classes, rather than just fire-fighting infection.

European companies, in particular, hope to reap rewards by investing early in a region where many of them already have historic commercial ties.

Violence in Mali and Algeria have put Africa in the headlines in recent weeks but Sanofi of France – the international drug company with the biggest sales in Africa – is still pushing ahead with a third factory in Algeria.

“Africa is becoming an extremely interesting market and we’ll continue to expand our commercial presence there,” Chief Executive Chris Viehbacher told Reuters.

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