Private investment stirs Africa’s healthcare

NAIROBI: Signs are emerging that Africa’s health care sector is awakening and modernizing with the help of private investment. In a continent that bears 25 percent of the world’s disease burden, the private sector has emerged as an important provider of healthcare. Increasing investor interest is good news. To meet Africa’s growing demand for healthcare; $25-$30 billion in new investment is needed.

Private investors, local and global, are rising to the challenge. Over the past seven years, private equity funds alone have invested more than $300 million in sub Saharan Africa’s healthcare sector and various private equity fund managers are estimated to have raised approximately $600-700 million over the last year to invest exclusively in this space.