A lot of investors, business developers, marketers thin about developing new markets and capture new opportunities but it’s not that easy decision, it takes a lot of time, effort to study the market dynamics in each area and find out the best choice for investing new capital that drives a positive return on investment.
A lot of us might think that investment in African market is risky!
To some extent yes it’s but it’s just in case you went for unplanned investment decision and some others think about choosing more lucrative markets that African markets.
The east African market is considered one of the booming and promising markets in Africa specially in healthcare industry and specifically medical devices, health IT services and ICT infrastructure.
The economic growth of the east African region is a head of other regions in the continent and is has as estimated average of 7%, the limitation of public financing has led to make the private sector to be the dominant one with almost 60% of healthcare financing.
Private sector is providing almost half of the healthcare services in east African countries and it has a better opportunity for growth.
Available opportunities of healthcare investment in east Africa
The rising demand of healthcare services is leading the opportunities of investment in healthcare in east Africa, for the whole continent there is an estimate of 25 to 30 billion USD is needed to fulfill the healthcare needs in the next decade.
The east African region is full of opportunities for all who are thinking in investment in healthcare with all of its sectors, the market is open for multiple opportunities including building hospitals and making healthcare services available for all people, medical devices and medical equipment is a good prospect as well, the advancement of ICT infrastructure made the market of healthcare information technology more appealing, telemedicine services, teleconsultation, teleradiology, hospital furniture drug manufacturing and medical training services.
This article tries to outline why it’s the right time to invest in east Africa and give some insights about east African region.
The key countries in east Africa for healthcare investment
- Ethiopia
- Kenya
- Tanzania
- Rwanda
- Uganda
The main reason to invest in the east African market can be as following:
East Africa growing population
The accessibility to a large population of more than 287 million individuals. Ethiopia is ranked number one by having almost 115 million people, followed by Tanzania that has almost 60 million people, followed by Kenya that has almost 54 million people, followed by Uganda that has almost 46 million people, and finally Rwanda that has almost 13 million people.
The growing population in east Africa reflects a growing and promising market size driven by the rising demand for healthcare services needed to fulfill the population needs of health services
East Africa Growing GDP
A growing combined GDP of all countries USD 299 Billion, starting with Ethiopia USD 96.1 Bn, followed by Kenya USD 95.5 Bn, followed by Tanzania USD 63.18 Bn, followed by Uganda USD 34.39 Bn, and finally Rwanda USD 10.12 Bn. The growing GDP is a very important indicator that reflects the economic health of a country and the increasing GDP reflects the increasing productivity of a country which is important in investment.
Political stability in the region
East African countries now are enjoying more stable political environment compared to the periods before the beginning of this millennium, the politically stable climate is essential for any investment decision and this region is showing much better political stability than before.
Other important reasons like:
- Good and hospitable people who welcome their visitors.
- Easy access to the market without regulatory complications
- The presence of intra-regional and cross border trade agreements.
- Growing healthcare sector on the public and the private levels.
