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Economic Growth and the Inflow of Foreign Donations Set to Drive Growth in the Sub-Saharan African Healthcare Industry

Posted on: Monday, 6 August 2007, 03:22 CDT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The healthcare industries on the African continent have been poorly understood and investigated. As a result, the African pharmaceutical and medical devices sectors are essentially untapped.

However, at present, significant economic growth is being experienced in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania. This, combined with the huge in- flow of donor funding, is driving growth in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors in these countries.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://pharmaceuticals.frost.com/), Strategic Assessment of the Healthcare Industries in Key sub-Saharan African Countries, finds that the sub-Saharan African healthcare pharmaceutical industry earned revenues of $4.00 billion in 2006 and estimates this to reach $6.90 billion in 2012. The medical devices market in the region earned revenues of $2.00 billion in 2006 and should reach $2.70 billion in 2012.

"The healthcare industries in sub-Saharan Africa are being driven by the economic growth of the continent and the in-flow of foreign donations targeted at the improvement of healthcare access and infrastructure," notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Dr Shaun Cochrane. "Attention has finally been focused on improving the lives of people in Africa and healthcare is emerging as the critical platform for doing so."

With South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania beginning to emerge as important developing market economies, the governments of these countries have realised the importance of developing the healthcare industry. Accordingly, government and donor funding is aimed at the improvement of healthcare infrastructure and accessibility, thus providing key opportunities for market participants in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors.

However, key challenges such as price sensitivity and the low purchasing power of end-users and consumers in Africa are vital considerations. These are further compounded by exchange rate fluctuations, which frequently weaken the local currencies against the US dollar and the Euro.

"The meagre availability of government funding for healthcare and the poor infrastructure present in the majority of African countries have resulted in pharmaceutical end-users and consumers purchasing products based predominantly on low prices," explains Dr. Cochrane. "Expensive pharmaceuticals are thus facing competition from low-price, poor quality products as well as counterfeit drugs, while high-end medical devices and capital equipment simply do not experience the volumes of sales typical of Europe and the United States."

Cheaper products with high-volume sales will therefore prove highly successful in sub-Saharan Africa. Products targeted at primary healthcare, such as antibiotics, analgesics and medical consumables will continue to perform well and grow over the next seven years.

In addition the high infectious disease burden across Africa will drive the need for diagnostic kits and equipment. Targeting these product categories will allow organisations to capitalise on the real needs of the healthcare industries in the region.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users and other industry participants with a strategic overview of the Healthcare Industries in Key sub-Saharan African Countries, send an e-mail to Patrick Cairns, Corporate Communications, at patrick.cairns@frost.com with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, e-mail address, city, state and country. We will send you the information through e-mail upon receipt of the above information.

Strategic Assessment of the Healthcare Industries in Key sub-Saharan African Countries is part of the Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology Growth Partnership Service, which also includes research on the regulatory environment for pharmaceutical products and medical devices in key sub-Saharan African countries and the South African implantable cardiovascular device markets. All research included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available.

Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies and the investment community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics and demographics. For more information, visit http://www.frost.com/.

Strategic Assessment of the Healthcare Industries in Key sub-Saharan African

Countries M12B Contact: Patrick Cairns Corporate Communications - Africa P: +27 21 680 3274 F: +27 21 680 3296 E: patrick.cairns@frost.com Radhika Menon Theodore Corporate Communications - Europe E: rmtheodore@frost.com Melina Trevino Corporate Communications - North America P: 210.247.2440 F: 210.348.1003 E: melina.trevino@frost.com Danielle White Corporate Communications - China & Latin America P: 210.247.2403 F: 210.348.1003 E: dwhite@frost.com Jasminder Kaur Corporate Communications - Asia Pacific P: 65.6890.0937 F: 65.6890.0988 E: jkaur@frost.com Shwetha Thomas Corporate Communications - South Asia & Middle East P: +91 22 4001 3429 F: +91 22 2832 4713 E: sthomas@frost.com Sharmin Jassal Corporate Communications - Australia & New Zealand P: +61 2 8247 8900 F: +61 2 9252 8066 E: sharmin.jassal@frost.com http://www.frost.com/

Frost & Sullivan

CONTACT: Patrick Cairns, Corporate Communications - Africa,+27-21-680-3274, F: +27-21-680-3296, patrick.cairns@frost.com, or RadhikaMenon Theodore, Corporate Communications - Europe, rmtheodore@frost.com, orMelina Trevino, Corporate Communications - North America, +1-210-247-2440, F:+1-210-348-1003, melina.trevino@frost.com, or Danielle White, CorporateCommunications - China & Latin America, +1-210-247-2403, F: +1-210-348-1003,dwhite@frost.com, or Jasminder Kaur, Corporate Communications - Asia Pacific,+65-6890-0937, F: +65-6890-0988, jkaur@frost.com, or Shwetha Thomas, CorporateCommunications - South Asia & Middle East, +91-22-4001-3429, F:+91-22-2832-4713, sthomas@frost.com, or Sharmin Jassal, CorporateCommunications - Australia & New Zealand, +61-2-8247-8900, F: +61-2-9252-8066,sharmin.jassal@frost.com

Web site: http://pharmaceuticals.frost.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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