By Nqobile Dludla and Siyanda Mthethwa

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Danish drugmaker Novo

Nordisk introduced its weight-loss drug Wegovy in

South Africa on Thursday, marking its debut in Africa and

stepping up competition with Eli Lilly's ( LLY ) Mounjaro

launched in the country eight months earlier.

South Africa, which has the continent's fourth-highest

number of adults with diabetes, according to the International

Diabetes Federation, would represents a key growth opportunity

for obesity treatments.

"One in two adults right now in South Africa is living with

excess weight or obesity," Sara Norcross, general manager of

Novo Nordisk South Africa, said at the launch event.

"We know that over two-thirds of women and about one in

three men are currently living with obesity."

Norcross said that Wegovy, which will be available from

Friday, was licensed and registered for weight-loss management

in South Africa. Novo already sells Ozempic in South Africa for

diabetes treatment.

Novo reaps the majority of its profits from Wegovy sales in

the critical U.S. market, where it competes with Eli Lilly's ( LLY )

obesity Zepbound drug and Mounjaro, its diabetes medication.

But the company has said it plans to ramp up Wegovy sales

outside of the U.S.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) sells Mounjaro only for the treatment of Type 2

diabetes in South Africa, through Aspen Pharmacare,

though the drug's injector pen remains under evaluation by the

drug regulator.

Both Wegovy and Mounjaro belong to a class of therapies

known as GLP-1 receptor agonists that help manage blood sugar

and slow digestion, making people feel fuller for longer.

More than a billion people now have obesity, according to

the World Health Organization, and around 70% of them live in

low and middle-income countries, the World Bank estimates.

($1 = 17.5258 rand)