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Health Care

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Africa Health Care remains one of the most under-funded sectors in the continent yet it has the world’s youngest population with a median age of 19.7 years compared to the global median age of 30.4 years. And, bears 24% of the global burden of disease according to the World Health Organization. Whilst, many view this as an investment opportunity, the continent remains with significant challenges from policy, regulation, human resources, and finance. The IFC estimates that over the next decade, $25-35 billion in new investment will be needed to meet Africa’s health care demand. In 2001, African Union countries pledged at least 15% of their budget allocation to healthcare but the majority lag behind with only five who have managed to keep the commitment.

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Whilst the statistics give you such a grim perspective of the continent, the question remains, what does the future hold for the sector? It’s one of the most salient opportunities in the continent from hospitals, pharmaceuticals, research, and technology just to mention a few. It, however, requires major support from the government, multilateral, bilateral, and private sectors. Each party/partner has something to bring to the “table”.

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Have you heard of the analogy “there is a lot of capital out there seeking good opportunities”? Maybe, maybe not but given our extensive experience working with healthcare sponsors on various projects in the continent, healthcare remains a key focus for us at Frederick Fyle.

 

Consumer | Food | Retail (CFR)

 

CFR describes a broad base of economic goods and activity.  A significant portion of CFR is fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) defined as products that are sold quickly and have a very short shelf life and can be categorized in various forms; processed foods, beverages, dry goods, cleaning products, toiletries, etc. In this context, I shall briefly focus on food security, primary agricultural production, value addition industries, and opportunities in the sector. Food security remains one of the key concerns in Africa given its population growth at 3% is the highest in the world, whilst the rest of the population decreases. Moreover, more than 60% of the continent's population are smallholder farmers, and about 23% of Sub Saharan Africa’s GDP comes from Agriculture. Yet, Africa’s full agriculture potential remains untapped. You may ask why? There are a myriad of reasons but just to mention a few; Defragmentation of small-scale farming, Infrastructure, finance, policy, communication, and human resource.

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Today, opportunities present themselves in every aspect within the supply chain value from production or manufacturing processes to the marketing of the products. In addition, we cannot ignore the role technology (Ag-Tech) plays within the value chain and its impact on the small scale holder farmers. In the last few years, Ag-Tech is seen as a revolution in farming that promises to overcome the geographic, social, and economic isolation of rural smallholder farmers and provide them with the information or services that they desperately need. In investments and as finance continues to be a key challenge, we at Frederick Fyle remain positive on the sector and continue to support entrepreneurs throughout the value chain.

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