Africa is considered to be the most profitable continent to do business, with great potentials for diverse business due to the resources available. This is seen through the number of foreign investors that come to the continent for various business projects.
This has led to many countries of Africa becoming more and more open to the rest of the world. Still, Africa as a continent has nations that are more economically stable than others. It hosts 21 of the 25 poorest countries in the world, making just slightly less than 50% of the continent’s number of countries.
With this kind of poverty levels, even where healthcare is being considered a priority, it is difficult to meet the required standards of healthcare set by the governments and international bodies. For some of these nations, attaining the SDGS and the UHC goals is a pipe dream. Health infrastructure in these countries is limited. There are records of deaths from diseases that could have been prevented were the requisite healthcare infrastructure and resources available.
Some countries like Kenya and South Africa have a reasonably well-developed healthcare system. Both of these countries are key players in healthcare deliver in the continent as many people from other countries travel to them seeking specialized treatment.
The ideal situation is to have Africa as a whole develop together with no country being left lagging behind.
There is no debate that there is a dire need for better healthcare in much of Africa. Whereas the poverty levels have played a key role in the limited development of healthcare systems in many countries, other factors as seen here below have also contributed in the slow growth in the sector.
Some countries have very stringent rules especially regarding foreign investors. Any international investor, before setting to invest in any country seek for countries with the lowest taxes possible to ensure highest return on investment. In some countries the taxes, are so high that investors shy away as they see no return on their investments.
However, if the taxes were reduced to ensure profits for the investors, this would also spiral to higher employment rates. The high employment rates for the people would lead to economic both at both individual and national levels, which would also increase purchasing power for health services. These would, in the long run, encourage more investors not only in the health industry but also in auxiliary sectors too and ultimately the economy of the country grows exponentially. Besides the economic growth, there would be improved health of the citizens with a remarkably reduced number of preventable deaths and better management of chronic conditions.
Governments should be encouraged to enter into PPPs while ensuring the conditions of engagement are not deterred by a rigid bureaucracy that would make it almost impossible to have any private entity to come on board. There are various models that the governments can engage the private sector to ensure best results of the partnerships for service delivery
Whereas it is important for the investors to seek the highest returns on investments, they should also consider the economic abilities of the countries and the peoples where they want to invest. They can provide a skewed investment model such that their ROI improves along the way as the situation of the people improve. In this regard, governments should give tax reliefs or models that offer the investors the comfort that they will ultimately recover their investments.
Overall African countries should have policies and laws that will encourage investors to invest in the health sector as a matter of priority. Investment in other sectors is welcome but it is of little impact if the infrastructure for health is missing as health is paramount to any activity. Without the nation is healthy, businesses will not run and the nation will spiral to deeper poverty.
Governments should also deliberately increase the healthcare investment expenditure relevant to the situations in their countries. Any initiative by them would be an incentive to private investors that health investment is a worthy course with returns.
