Medtech and Healthtech in Africa: Opportunities and Investment

Africa’s healthcare landscape is undergoing a transformation driven by digital health, medtech, and biotech innovations. With a rapidly growing population, increasing urbanization, and rising demand for better healthcare solutions, medtech and healthtech in Africa present a significant investment opportunity. However, challenges such as infrastructure gaps, regulatory complexity, and access to funding remain.

During a panel at LSI USA ’24, Kwame Ulmer, Managing Partner at MedTech Impact Partners, sat down with Sewu-Steve Tawia, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Jaza Rift Ventures, to explore the realities of investing in Africa’s healthcare ecosystem. Their conversation shed light on the continent’s vast potential, the hurdles to overcome, and the strategies that can drive innovation and investment success.

Why Invest in Medtech and Healthtech in Africa?

Africa’s healthcare market is poised for exponential growth. The population is expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, and urbanization is rising, with 50% of people already living in urban or peri-urban areas. These demographic shifts, combined with digital advancements, are creating new opportunities for medtech and healthtech in Africa.

Tawia, who leads Jaza Rift Ventures — a $50 million fund targeting early-stage investments in medtech, biotech, and digital health solutions — highlighted the scale of the opportunity:

“Africa has a $66 billion annual healthcare financing gap. We can’t solve it with infrastructure alone. Technology — digital health, medtech, and biotech — offers a unique opportunity to bridge this gap and leapfrog traditional healthcare models.”

Despite this potential, medtech venture capital investment in African healthcare has been relatively small, averaging around $180 million per year over the last five years. Compared to the $2.4 billion in total VC funding across all sectors in Africa in 2023, healthcare remains an underfunded but high-growth opportunity.

This blog is originally published here: https://www.lsiusasummit.com/news/medtech-and-healthtech-in-africa-opportunities-and-investment