About Lamia Tazi
The pharmacist who runs the plant
Chairwoman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Sothema — a Moroccan industrialist whose authority rests on a technical qualification, not only on a title.
Professional Identity
Four descriptions, all accurate
Lamia Tazi is a Moroccan pharmacist, an industrialist, a listed-company chief executive and the chairwoman of her own board. Each of those descriptions is doing separate work, and none of them substitutes for the others.
A pharmacist
She holds a degree in pharmacy from the University of Liège in Belgium. In a pharmaceutical manufacturer this is not background colour. From 1998 she held the statutory office of responsible pharmacist at Sothema — the named individual who carries personal legal accountability for the conformity of every product the company releases onto the market. Few chief executives anywhere in the industry have carried that particular signature.
An industrialist
Sothema is not a distributor or a licensing vehicle. It is a manufacturer: a 60,000-square-metre site at Bouskoura producing across thirteen pharmaceutical forms, including the aseptic operations required for injectables and biological medicines. It was the first wholly Moroccan pharmaceutical laboratory to operate as a genuine industrialist, and the first African producer of animal-origin insulin. Running it means running plants, shifts, validated processes and inspection regimes.
A chief executive of a listed company
Sothema was the first North African pharmaceutical company to go public, listing on the Casablanca Stock Exchange in 2005. That imposes a discipline of disclosure, minority-shareholder protection and market scrutiny that private family firms do not face — and it means every strategic decision is made in public view.
A chairwoman
She holds the chair of the board as well as the chief executive role. In 2019 the board appointed her to succeed the company’s founder, Omar Tazi, who moved to lead a newly established strategic committee. Combining the two offices concentrates responsibility; it also concentrates accountability.
Scope of Responsibility
What the job covers
Manufacturing
A group operating eight production units, with a principal site at Bouskoura extending over 60,000 square metres and manufacturing capability across thirteen pharmaceutical forms.
Contract manufacturing
Production for more than thirty-five national and international laboratories, among them several of the world’s leading research-driven pharmaceutical groups.
Export markets
Supply into the Maghreb, sub-Saharan Africa and the Persian Gulf, alongside contract manufacturing for European clients.
Regional operations
A production site in Dakar, Senegal; offices in Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon; and a scientific office opened in Saudi Arabia in 2023.
Beyond the company
Her professional responsibilities extend past Sothema. She is Managing Director of Advanced Scientific Developments and holds board positions at West Afric Pharma in Senegal, Azerys and Axess Pharma in Morocco, and Leiden Pharma in the Netherlands. Forbes Middle East has additionally identified her as President of Axess Pharma and of West Africa Pharma.
In representative terms, she was elected Vice-President General of the Moroccan Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry and Innovation (FMIIP) in September 2021, alongside President Mohamed El Bouhmadi. She sits on the board of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), and has served on the executive bureau of the Moroccan Association of Exporters (ASMEX). Earlier she served as Vice-President of the Moroccan Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry (AMIP).
Public Standing
Recognised beyond the company
Independent recognition is a useful corrective to self-description. Lamia Tazi has appeared on successive Forbes Middle East rankings — among the Top 50 Leaders Transforming Healthcare in 2022, the Top 100 Healthcare Leaders in 2023, and the 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen in both 2024 and 2025, placing 33rd in the 2025 edition and 24th among Top Healthcare Leaders that same year.
She has also contributed to international discussion on African economic and health development, including participation in forums on the continent’s economy, and is profiled as an expert by World Bank Live. These are third-party assessments, compiled by organisations with no interest in the outcome.
In Her Own Words
Published statements, quoted as given
Every quotation on this website is drawn from a published interview or public appearance. None has been paraphrased into something she did not say.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we proved that our industry is vital not just to the health system but also to the economy.PharmaBoardroom interview
Covid was a real crash test, and it showed what happens when you don’t have pharmaceutical sovereignty.On health systems in Africa
Sothema is looking ahead by expanding our footprint geographically, broadening our portfolio and investing in innovative technologies.PharmaBoardroom interview
They must first build faith in themselves. Self-awareness is the first skill that every leader should have.On advice to young women leaders — PharmaBoardroom
A Note on Accuracy
What this website does and does not claim
This site describes Lamia Tazi’s professional career using publicly reported information, with sources named where a figure or a claim is specific. Where reports differ — and on some details they do — the more authoritative and better-corroborated version has been used, and the uncertainty is not hidden.
The site makes no claim about her personal wealth, private life or family circumstances beyond what is directly relevant and publicly documented in a professional context. It attributes no quotation she has not given, no award she has not received, and no position she does not hold.