Lamia Tazi, the prominent Moroccan pharmaceutical entrepreneur and CEO of Marocaine Ste de Therapeutique (Sothema), has seen a significant increase in her fortune as the market value of her interest in the company has just rebounded to more than $60 million. This increase has secured her position as one among Morocco’s wealthiest persons.
Tazi’s recent financial gains are linked to a jump in Sothema’s stock on the Casablanca exchange. The company’s shares gained dramatically in the last month alone, increasing Tazi’s holdings by MAD23.59 million ($2.3 million). Tazi’s Sothema holdings decreased by $3 million between Jan. 24 and Feb. 15.
Sothema is Morocco’s largest healthcare corporation, generating over 60 million units of pharmaceuticals each year and managing a diverse portfolio of 35 global laboratories that manufacture and export items to Europe, the Maghreb, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Persian Gulf.
Under Lamia Tazi’s direction, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mauritania’s Central Purchasing Center for Essential Medicines and Medical Consumables (CAMEC), a crucial step towards improving healthcare in Mauritania.
The renewed buying interest in Sothema shares on the Casablanca bourse has resulted in a 3.91 percent gain in the company’s share price, pushing its market value close to $740 million. This increase has generated large gains for stockholders, notably Lamia Tazi.
Lamia Tazi, Sothema’s chairman and CEO and one of the wealthiest investors on the Casablanca exchange, owns a large 8.4 percent stake in the premier healthcare company, which equates to 605,030 issued shares.
The recent rise in Sothema shares has increased the market value of Tazi’s interest by MAD23.59 million ($2.34 million) in recent weeks, from MAD603.82 million ($59.80 million) on Feb. 21 to MAD627.42 million.