• Submitted by: manso
• Business and Economy
• 10 / 13 / 2010

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Havana-based Grupo Empresarial Labiofam is building an insecticide factory in coastal Tanzania, according to the Cuban foreign ministry.

The Labiofam facility will manufacture a biolarvicide that will play a key role in an anti-malaria program for the region around the capital Dar es Salaam, the Tanzania Daily News reported. Some 16 million Tanzanians are affected by malaria.

The Cuban state company has produced Bactivec and Griselesf biolarvicide since the 1990s. Labiofam set up joint venture production facilities in Brazil; Nigeria and Ghana both have used large quantities of the Cuban-made insecticides.

The Cuban government will oversee the program, which includes spraying pesticide from helicopters, while the Tanzanian government will “ensure funding is available,” according to the newspaper.

South Africa has helped fund Cuban medical projects in East Africa in the past.

The Tanzanian government previously imported a U.S.-made biotech product to battle mosquitos; the Cuban plant’s production will substitute these imports, the newspaper reported.

The Labiofam plant, going up at Kibaha just west of the capital, is expected to be completed

Source: www.cubastandard.com/2010/10/12/labiofam-building-insecticide-plant-in-t...