Israel Africa | Business Guide | 2020

First Winner Takes It All Despite lowper capita income ( 60 %of the population survives on less than USD 2 a day), and low expenditure on medical treatment (less than USD 100 per year in most countries), advancements in the healthcare sector and governments' spending aim to provide improvement and growth for the healthcare industry. Quite a few African countries that experienced rapid growth, such as Ghana and Nigeria, welcome new business opportunities in the sector. This creates an opening for Israeli innovation to carry ‘proof of concept’ for their products to areas that might need it the most. Quite a few Israeli medical startups worked on technology to suit African countries and counter Africa-specific diseases such amalaria, and only then took it to other markets in the world. While technological advancements and product development remain healthymarket strategies for medical devices, the cost sensitivities of the African market needs to be taken T he Medical Devices market across Africa grows at a steady pace. As the world's second- most-populous continent, Africa still offers significant growth opportunities for industry players. Although poverty andpolitical unrest are present inmost African regions, the development and production of medical devices never stagnates, andmany notablemedical device manufacturers are drawn to the Continent. This attraction is best expressed in numbers: In 2017 , the size of the Medical Devices market in Africa was USD 4 . 9 billion. This market is expected to grow to over USD 7 billion by the year 2023 . The public health system in many countries in the Continent, South Africa being one example, suffers from low budgets and a shortage of professionals. However, alongside this, wefinda thrivingprivate health system with millions of insured residents. Costs of private policies are high but include dentistry and optometry. Hospitals serve as facilities for private practitionerswho get paid directly by the patients. This imbalance puts South Africa in a delicate situation inwhatever concerns the regulation of medical devices and treatments. Medicines could take 3 to 5 years to register, while medical devices do not require licensing. It is recommended that developers and producers of medical devices should check on new regulations to allow them to benefit from retroactive regulatory approval. Fromthe point of viewof the patients, the consumer base in Africa has a vast portion of young people – the median age of Ethiopian population, for example, is 19 , half of the median age in many western countries - and has increasing numbers of middle- class consumers. The countries with the largest numbers in themiddle class are SouthAfrica, Algeria, Nigeria, and Morocco. The African population suffers from a fewcontagious diseases apart from chronic diseases that even advanced countries have, hence the high costs of providing essential medical services and the lack of many services. Because of low-level transportation infrastructure, over 50 % of the population lives at long distances fromthe nearestmedical center. These conditions need to improve so that even telemedicine applications that are found in advanced countries are made available to busy patients on the Continent. In this way patients would not have to travel long distances to reach clinics. Israeli innovations like diagnosing certain types of cancer via the smartphone can be lifesavers. Small diagnostic labs at the point of care, digital communication with more extensive medical centers, remote- training of medical staff - these can turn into routine protocol in many African countries. The Medical Devices and Digital Health Market in Africa is constantly growing, with Israeli expertise making a unique contribution By Or Noam Healthy Opportunities for Growth Israel Africa > Business Guide > 2020 40 > Sector Review > Medical Technologies