Africa highlighted as high potential market for healthcare companies

As growth in developed markets stagnates, companies in the life sciences and healthcare market are increasingly looking for growth in Africa.

This is according to Andrew Mitchell: President EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Life Sciences & Healthcare at DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation, who was speaking at the 5th annual DHL Regional Life Sciences & Healthcare conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa today. He says this trend calls for global industry players to adopt smarter strategies in order to operate successfully across the continent.

According to the Africa: A continent of opportunity for pharma patients¹ report by McKinsey & Company, the value of Africa’s pharmaceutical industry jumped to $20.8bn in 2013 from just $4.7bn a decade earlier, and will be worth $40bn to $65bn by 2020.

It also reports that between 2013 and 2020 prescription drugs are forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6 percent in Africa, generics at 9 percent, over-the-counter medicines at 6 percent, and medical devices at 11 percent.

Mitchell says that when it comes to transporting medicines across Africa, there are many common challenges that the industry experiences, such as ensuring temperature-controlled environments in accordance to Good Distribution Practice regulations, cost efficiency, trade compliance and regulations, and innovation for continuous improvement – of which all are vital to success. “We wanted to address changes affecting our industry at the conference, and discuss how the industry can adopt the best supply chain strategies to capitalize on Africa’s growth potential and achieve regulatory compliance,” says Mitchell.