Kenya Among Top 5 African Countries Exporting Medical Devices Worth KSh 87.2b

• Kenya hosted the inaugural Pan-African Medtech Conference 2023 at Kenyatta University to accelerate the growth of medical technology development
• The country was ranked fourth in Africa's medical device export space, estimated at over KSh 87 billion
• Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor Paul Wainaina highlighted the potential of the sector, calling for government support

Kenya is the fourth largest medical technology devices exporter in Africa, with 3.1% of exports from Africa to the rest of the world.

The country beats Tunisia and Mauritius, according to the report of the just concluded inaugural Pan-African Medtech Conference held in Nairobi.

The presentation puts South Africa, Egypt, and Morocco ahead of Kenya at 21.1%, 6.8%, and 3.5%, respectively.

Africa's medical export market

Data from the UN Economic Commission for Africa showed Africa exports medical devices worth $600 million (KSh 87.2 billion) every year, representing 0.3% of global imports.

The sector grew by $189 million (KSh 27.5 billion) over the last five years.

“Despite the growth, the continent imports about 90 % of medical devices. Africa imports about $4 billion (KSh 581.6 billion) worth of medical devices, a growth of $1 billion in the last five years, representing about 1.9% of global imports, with South Africa (18%), Egypt (12%), Morocco (8%), Kenya (2.5%) importing the highest devices in Africa,” said Victor Konde, from the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

According to the report, the global medical devices market hit $595.4 billion (KSh 86.6 trillion) in 2022 and is expected to rise to $844.7 billion (122.8 trillion) by 2028.

Telemedicine and e-health was worth $87.8 billion (KSh 12.8 trillion) as of 2022 and is projected to reach $285.7 billion (KSh 41.4 trillion) in 2027.

Wearable health devices were at $116 billion (KSh 16.7 trillion) in 2022 and will rise to $265.4 billion (KSh 38.6 trillion) in 2027.

Artificial Intelligence was worth $14.6 billion (KSh 2.1 trillion) as of 2022 and is projected to reach $102 billion (KSh 14.8 trillion) by 2028.

3D printing in health was worth $17.4 billion (KSh 2.5 trillion) in 2022 and is expected to rise to $34.5 billion (KSh 5 trillion) by 2028.

Nanodevices and machines were at $1.3 billion (KSh 189 billion) in 2022 and may reach $2.7 billion (KSh 392.6 billion) by 2028.

The two-day conference, convened by Villgro Africa and Jaza Rift Ventures in collaboration with Rice360 Institute of Global Health Technologies, Ifakara Innovation Hub, PDP Consortium, and Kenyatta University, was aimed at accelerating the growth of local solutions to address the challenges faced in the development and manufacturing of medical devices.

“Africa should not miss such lucrative markets with high potential to improve healthcare services for millions of its people. Collaborations amongst various stakeholders, including governments, regulators, academia, and industry, have the potential to develop solutions to address the diverse healthcare challenges faced on the African continent, including the development and manufacture of medical devices,” said Wambui Gachiengo, Chief Technology Officer, Villgro Africa.

According to Jaza Rift Ventures General Partner, Sewu-Steve Tawia, investment in the medical devices segment of Africa’s startup space can hit $259 billion (KSh 37.7 trillion) by 2030. Currently, the sector has attracted $500 million (KSh 72.7 billion) in investments.

“The future of the medical devices sector startup space is artificial intelligence (AI). AI in healthcare could include tasks that range from simple to complex—everything from answering the phone to medical record review, population health trending and analytics, therapeutic drug and device design, reading radiology images, making clinical diagnoses and treatment plans, and even talking with patients,” Tawia explained.

KU VC Paul Wainaina calls for government support

On his part, Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor Paul Wainaina called on the government to increase its commitment to the medical devices sector by allocating more budget to research and development of the sector.

“We believe that by applying the best that technology has to offer to the manufacturing sector, including AI and robotics, we can develop much-needed medical devices that can be distributed across Africa at scale and at an affordable cost. The conference has served as a catalyst for capturing these ideas and inspiring action that will now make them a reality,” Wainaina noted.

Other issues affecting the growth of the sector include skills development for technical professionals.

“We need to increase skills development in our institutions. Our engineering students are more theoretical than practical; we need to equip our students with the skills needed to increase investments and uptake of medical devices in the African continent. We need more biomedical engineers, data scientists, and Al experts,” added Khatuchi Kasandi, Director of Invention Education Partnerships at Rice360 Institute of Global Health Technologies.

Kenya exports syringes to Pakistani

Kenya inked a deal with the Pakistani government that saw it export five million syringes.

The deal was reached through Revital Healthcare, which produces over 40 medical devices and exports to more than 20 countries, including neighbouring East African states.

The firm supports Kenya and Africa's economic advancement, employing more than 500 workers.