COVID-19: A trigger for MedTech & LabTech market development in East Africa

We would like to invite you to the COVID-19: A trigger for MedTech & LabTech market development in East Africa webinar.

It will take place on 2nd July 2020. 11:00 am – 12:45 pm EAT (East African Time) or 10:00 am – 11:45 am CEST (Central European Summer Time). It will be conducted by Dr. Franz von Roenne, EZ-Scout at SPECTARIS, africon GmbH and East African Health Platform (EAHP). Aneth Herman, Junior Consultant- africon, will be giving insights on the EAC MedTech and LabTech market size, major players and potential partnerships between local and international companies.

In this free webinar, you will learn how the COVID-19 virus is changing the demands for medical and laboratory technology. The findings will be presented by the SPECTARIS association partner East African Health Platform, an umbrella organisation of the non-governmental health industry in the 6 member countries of the EAC: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Southern Sudan.

You will get an overview of trends and perspectives in the region and get to know the viewpoint of users through hospital managers and/or investors from three of the countries. Although the crisis is still in full swing, it is already becoming clear in East Africa that technological changes which are underway, but overdue, will be accelerated by COVID-19.

Contributors are: Dr. Thomas Walter (head of the BMZ-funded project Support to Regional Industrial Value Addition in the EAC and an expert on the economy and economic policy of the EAC), a representative of a large regional investor in health care facilities, CEOs of private hospitals, and, on the topic of business models, a senior manager of a producer of life science technology in the EAC.

We are looking forward to your registration, which you can make via this link.

Africa’s independent aftermarkets – a look at the current situation and future potential webinar

africon CEO and Partner, Marc- Peter Zander, will be presenting at Messe Frankfurt Middle East: Automechanika Dubai’s webinar titled “Africa’s independent aftermarket (IAM) – a look at the current situation and future potential”.

africon will be presenting insights on the automotive independent aftermarket situation in Africa and will cover:

  • The current state of the IAM in Africa – How to prepare for the scenario presented after COVID-19
  • Reducing the dependency from Asia in the IAM – Is Africa the next growth market?
  • Macro trends driving growth in Africa, the last untapped market

Marc will be joined by Vishal Pandey from Glasgow Consulting Group who will be moderating this session.

You are invited to register for the webinar here

Challenges and opportunities for the West African economy in the face of COVID-19 Webinar

With an estimated average growth rate of 3.7% in 2019, West Africa is a booming market with more than 350 million inhabitants spread across the sub-region. The willingness to invest is mainly due to the region’s good profitability prospects. This trend is caused by West Africa’s diverse natural resources, human resources and a large economic market.

The BVMW’s Africa SME Alliance is therefore organising a series of webinars titled « Africa Roadshow » and invites you via video conference to an exclusive West Africa webinar on 30 June 2020 at 4 p.m. (GMT+2) with the guest of honour, the Ambassador of Ghana, H.E. Ms Gina Ama Blay.

You will get an exclusive insight into the economies of West Africa in the time after the COVID-19 crisis with a focus on Ghana. Ghana is one of the most economically sought-after countries in this area. With more than 27 million consumers Ghana is the second largest market in West Africa. It is now not only one of the best countries to do business in Africa, but also has the fastest growing economy in the world, as noted by the report « Ease of Doing Business », published by the World Bank in 2019. The excellent framework conditions for European companies offer attractive business opportunities and new target markets for German SMEs. This is particularly true in the agricultural industry, energy, financial services, infrastructure and the real estate sector. In particular, healthcare and investments in supply chains have become sectors of the future with the Covid 19 pandemic.

africon CEO and Partner Marc-Peter Zander will be one of the experts presenting at the conference.

The webinar will be held in English.

Register and read more here

Slide of the month (SOTM) June. Consumer goods across Africa

Consumer goods markets in Africa have over the past 10-20 years become increasingly interesting for international companies. Growing overall populations and especially the growing middle class have motivated companies from around the world to expand their footprint on the continent. One learning during this process is that Africa is more diverse than previously assumed.

This slide gives an interesting example: consumer goods in Algeria are usually sold through a distribution network that resembles that of some European countries. In Ethiopia on the other hand, a vast variety of products first passes through “Merkato Market”, a relatively chaotic but hugely important trading centre in the capital Addis Ababa. Further differences between the two markets exist in the type of products traded along these networks, the profiles of companies active in them and in many more areas. For all key African countries, these differences need to be understood and their impacts taken into consideration when building up structures as a foreign company.

Read other SOTMs (Slides of the month) here.

Slide of the month (SOTM) May. Glass production in Africa

Slide of the month (SOTM) April. The sugar industry in East Africa

Slide of the month (SOTM) March. The rope manufacturing industry in Africa

Slide of the month (SOTM) February. Obtaining finance in Côte d’Ivoire

Slide of the month (SOTM) January. Internet speeds across Africa

Slide of the month (SOTM) May. Glass production in Africa

Glass has innumerable applications like building, construction and packaging among others. africon did an analysis for a chemicals manufacturer to understand glass production in Africa, by looking at 5 major countries involved in the process. These were Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. Egypt clearly emerged as the leading country in glass manufacturing, followed by Morocco and Tunisia. Based on the findings, africon was able to have a scope on glass production as an application industry for our client and give strategic recommendations.

Read other SOTMs (Slides of the month) here.

Slide of the month (SOTM) April. The sugar industry in East Africa

Slide of the month (SOTM) March. The rope manufacturing industry in Africa

Slide of the month (SOTM) February. Obtaining finance in Côte d’Ivoire

Slide of the month (SOTM) January. Internet speeds across Africa

Slide of the month (SOTM) December. Automotive market in Uganda

 

Slide of the month (SOTM) April. The sugar industry in East Africa

Agri processing is often referred to as one of the most promising areas for many African countries to develop their economies. In this project, africon was tasked to prioritise countries and sectors to (in a next stage) efficiently identify potential customers for a client. The sugar industry, as one of the evaluated industries, scored a “medium” potential for our client – though the image varies across the region. While many East African countries have sugar producing industries, only Ethiopia has over the recent years registered significant growth in sugar output and might continue to do so over the next 2-3 years. On the other hand, many sugar mills in the region suffer from high production costs and dwindling or stagnating output. Through the results and the continuation of this project, we will not only identify the most promising first customers for our client in East Africa, but we will also provide direction for future sales efforts in the region.

Read other SOTMs (Slides of the month) here.

Slide of the month (SOTM) March. The rope manufacturing industry in Africa

Slide of the month (SOTM) February. Obtaining finance in Côte d’Ivoire

Slide of the month (SOTM) January. Internet speeds across Africa

Slide of the month (SOTM) December. Automotive market in Uganda

Slide of the month (SOTM) November. Chemicals application sectors in Nigeria