(l-r) Christian Danielsson, Suma Chakrabarti, Sara Masmoudi, Janet Heckman and Antoine Salle de Chou.
- Tunisian pharma company to benefit from EBRD financing and EU grant
- Teriak will use finance to expand dry powder for inhalation output and other innovative medicines
- An EBRD Blue Ribbon member, Teriak will also receive technical assistance
The EBRD and the EU are joining forces to support the growth of a dynamic privately-owned Tunisian pharmaceutical firm, Teriak.
The company will benefit from financial and technical support to strengthen its competitiveness.
It will receive an EBRD loan of 11.7 million Tunisian dinars (equivalent to €3.4 million), a technical assistance package and a €0.5 million grant from the EU through a programme specifically designed to boost value chains and competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in the region.
Teriak will use the funds to invest in new equipment to expand its activities in dry powder for inhalation (DPI) and in other innovative medicines to improve the affordability and availability of important treatments for patients.
As part of the EBRD’s Blue Ribbon programme dedicated to high-potential SMEs, Teriak will also benefit from assistance to improve its financial information reporting, through the transitioning to International Financial Reporting Standards and enhanced analytical accounting, as well as improving the company’s health and safety standards to qualify Teriak for ISO 45001 certification.
With support from the EU, the EBRD provides eligible companies with access to investment grants and advisory services in a range of sectors, including agribusiness, manufacturing and services, logistics and distribution, and information and communication technologies.
Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of the EBRD, said: “We are very pleased to partner with Teriak, the first Blue Ribbon company in Tunisia. This is the Bank’s first financing in local currency in a non-financial private company in Tunisia and also the first EBRD financing in the highly promising Tunisian pharmaceutical sector.”
Sara Masmoudi, CEO of Teriak, said: “It was a great honour for us when we became the first Tunisian company to join the EBRD's Blue Ribbon programme in 2017. Today, we are delighted that the EBRD is financing a key investment for Teriak. In addition to the financing itself and the important technical assistance package, the demanding work we carried out to achieve today’s signing was really constructive for our teams. We would be happy to explore new opportunities to develop further this partnership with the EBRD.”
Christian Danielsson, Director-General for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement, said: “With this new partnership with Teriak, the EU is once again living up to its commitment to support those companies with a competitive edge and which contribute to keeping Tunisia on the world map of R&D and innovation”.
Teriak has its headquarters in the Tunisian capital of Tunis and is owned by the Kilani family who established the firm in 1996. It manufactures medicines under license for leading pharmaceutical multinational companies and produces its own generic products sold both in Tunisia and in export markets. With a first industrial establishment in Cameroon in 2015, Teriak is very committed to the development of African regional integration, a vital subject in terms of manufacturing of quality medicines.
The EBRD places a strong priority on providing finance for private sector firms in Tunisia, where it has invested a total of over €850 million since the start of its operations in the country in 2012 and provided technical assistance to nearly 800 SMEs, two thirds of which are in the regions.
The Bank’s investments aim to support Tunisia’s competitiveness by opening markets and strengthening governance, promote economic inclusion for women, young people and those living in remote areas, strengthen the financial sector’s resilience, and support Tunisia’s green economy transition.
