{"id":865785,"date":"2026-07-08T16:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=865785"},"modified":"2026-07-08T15:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T13:59:14","slug":"french-company-buying-companies-in-south-africa-and-its-neighbours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/865785\/french-company-buying-companies-in-south-africa-and-its-neighbours\/","title":{"rendered":"French company buying companies in South Africa and its neighbours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

France-based CFAO Healthcare is pushing hard into South Africa and neighbouring countries and has recently purchased a 75% stake in Medswana, a Botswana-based company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CFAO Healthcare launched its operations in South Africa in 2024 and began deploying its regional platform across Southern Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It made its first investment in South Africa after acquiring Sanofi\u2019s South African Consumer Healthcare business, Opella Healthcare South Africa, a prominent pharmaceutical manufacturer and distributor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In South Africa, the company offers imports, distribution, regulatory compliance, local manufacturing, and medical promotion services through its partner, Ethica South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CFAO Healthcare delivers to over 11,000 pharmacies daily in French-speaking Africa, English-speaking Africa and the French Overseas Territories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, the broader CFAO group is owned by the Toyota Tsusho Corporation, whose largest shareholder is the automobile company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company is now expanding its operations in the region with the acquisition of a majority share of Medswana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The French healthcare group will illustrate its strategy of building a regional pharmaceutical distribution network capable of meeting African healthcare needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said that Botswana has one of the most structured healthcare systems in Southern Africa and maintains strong links with the South African market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This environment makes Botswana a strategic market for CFAO Healthcare\u2019s regional expansion,” the group said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medswana is one of the leading players in the pharmaceutical distribution in Botswana, with over 3,800 product references and over 200 suppliers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CFAO Healthcare aims to support the development of the Botswana market while strengthening the regional integration of its platform in Southern Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CEO, Piet le Grange, retired upon completion of the transaction, with Mark Fallows, the Head of Operations, taking over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBotswana is a strategic market for our regional development. With Medswana, we are partnering with a recognised leader and experienced teams,” said Philippe Franiatte, CFAO Healthcare\u2019s Southern Region CEO. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our ambition is to sustainably support the development of Botswana\u2019s pharmaceutical sector while strengthening regional synergies to benefit healthcare systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jean-Marc Leccia, CEO of CFAO Healthcare, said that the deal is fully in line with its strategy to develop an integrated pharmaceutical distribution platform across the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In markets where access to medicines depends heavily on the quality of supply chains, our role is to provide high standards, continuity of service, and sustainable solutions,” said Leccia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the deal, the company will operate as Medswana Laborex and join CFAO Healthcare\u2019s pan-African network. <\/p>\n\n\n

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CFAO Healthcare has been on an expansion drive in South Africa and its neighbouring countries, as it expands its offering on the continent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":865812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2074863836612407347","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[25774,25775],"class_list":["post-865785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-cfao-healthcare","tag-medswana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865785"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865818,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865785\/revisions\/865818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}