The Indian pharmaceutical industry is well positioned in dealing with these challenges and will benefit from establishing links with South Africa, he added.

The Pharmexcil delegation will also visit countries neighbouring South Africa such as Mozambique, Botswana and Zambia later this week.

Pharmexcil's foray into Africa started with Kenya in East Africa and Tunisia in North Africa, with a delegation visiting Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa three months ago.

'We found that generic drugs are very well received in these African countries and hope to establish links with them to counter the impact of counterfeit generic drugs,' Appaji said.