B. Braun establishes a subsidiary in Zambia
B. Braun has set up an own subsidiary in Zambia in November 2017. So far, the export business to this country in Southern Africa had been successfully handled by the company’s headquarters in Melsungen and the regional office in Johannesburg. With its subsidiary B. Braun Medical Zambia Limited, the company is formally establishing a solid foundation for its business in Zambia, and is better able to meet customer requirements. The entity is based in the capital Lusaka.
"The founding of a subsidiary of our own is another important step in the implementation of our adopted Africa strategy for B. Braun," said Chairman of the Management Board of B. Braun, Prof. Dr. Heinz-Walter Große. This resolution had been adopted by the board in February this year. "Zambia, with its fast-growing population, political, and economic stability, and long-term growth prospects in the healthcare sector, is a very interesting market for us," explains B. Braun Managing Director Jens Papperitz, who is responsible for Southern Africa. B. Braun estimates the company-relevant market size in Zambia at about USD 50 million per year.
"Setting up our own subsidiary enables us to offer our customers and partners in Zambia a much broader portfolio of products, to strengthen our logistics, and to expand urgently needed services, for example in the dialysis market," continued Mr. Papperitz. Managing Director of the subsidiary is the 29-year-old Zambian Nimrod Njamba. In 2013, Mr. Njamba participated in a 6-month STEP program of the Sub-Saharan Africa Initiative of German Business (SAFRI) in Germany and spent that time in the export department at the company headquarters in Melsungen. Since returning to Zambia, Nimrod Njamba and his South African colleagues have gradually developed and expanded the Zambia business.
B. Braun has been operating on the African continent for more than 60 years and exports medical products to almost all African countries. In addition, the company has subsidiaries with a total of 780 employees in Algeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Zambia. B. Braun currently generates around 100 million euros in sales in Africa, about one and a half percent of Group sales.