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Nigeria’s digital healthcare sector to hit $3.3b

In spite of challenges such as limited infrastructure and a shortage of healthcare professionals, the healthcare landscape in West Africa is experiencing significant transformation driven by population growth, urbanisation, and rising healthcare demands.

According to a report by Medic West Africa, the gateway to access the West African healthcare market, the region presents opportunities through investments, pharmaceutical industry development, medical tourism promotion, and community empowerment via decentralised healthcare models.

It noted that this transformation is poised to impact the economy significantly, attracting investments, creating jobs, reducing healthcare costs, improving population health, and contributing to overall economic and social development, supported by government initiatives like national health insurance schemes, public-private partnerships, and regulatory reforms.

“Accessible and high-quality healthcare services play a vital role in poverty alleviation, reducing mortality rates, and elevating overall living standards,” the report said, noting that key trends in West Africa’s healthcare evolution include advancements like telemedicine, mobile health, and AI applications, along with an increase in public private partnerships to improve infrastructure and access.

Medic West Africa, which is the leading healthcare event platform in the West African region, however, said within the West African region, Nigeria’s healthcare business provides great opportunities for growth with investment.

“As Nigeria prioritises the growth of its healthcare sector, the future outlook is optimistic, to make an exciting moment for entrepreneurs, investors, together with healthcare experts to contribute to Nigeria’s health business,” the report, which was released last week and accessed by The Nation, said.

However, in line with Nigeria’s healthcare sector’s optimistic outlook, Medic West Africa particularly said the widespread use of digital health in Nigeria is expected to increase from $700 million to $3.3 billion by 2030, representing four to 10 per cent of total predicted healthcare spending, a report by Medic West Africa has said.

Established as the primary healthcare event in West Africa, Medic West Africa which brings together healthcare professionals from across the globe, said even though digital health is still in its early stages in most African regions, including Nigeria, innovations such as smartphone connectivity, data management rules, and data infrastructure have started to transform the way African health systems operate.

Digital health applies digital transformation to the healthcare field, incorporating software, hardware and services. Under its umbrella, digital health includes mobile health (mHealth) apps, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), wearable devices, tele-health and telemedicine, as well as personalized medicine.

Digital healthcare plays an increasingly important role in healthcare today, and stakeholders in the field include patients, practitioners, researchers, application developers, and medical device manufacturers and distributors.

Terms related to digital health include health information technology (health IT), healthcare tools, health analytics, healthcare informatics, hospital IT and medical technology.

Citing Statista, an online platform that specializes in data gathering and visualization, Medic West Africa, in its report, said the digital health industry was expected to generate $5.37 billion in revenue by 2023.

It however said: “Among the West African countries, the widespread use of digital health in Nigeria is expected to increase from $700 million to $3.3 billion by 2030 (between four and 10 per cent of total predicted healthcare spending).

“These profits might be spent in other high-priority areas to improve overall health outcomes and fund the deployment and upkeep of digital health solutions.”

The report, which was accessed by The Nation, noted that Africa’s healthcare sector is undergoing a digital transformation with impactful innovations poised to revolutionise healthcare delivery.

Some of the innovations include virtual interactions, where tele-consultations provide efficient solutions for minor health concerns and remote monitoring empowers proactive care for chronic diseases; paperless data, where interoperable Electronic Health Records (EHRs) enhance efficiency, and AI-powered virtual assistants streamline communication and support physicians.

Also, with innovation like patient self-management, prescription adherence systems and patient education programs empower those with chronic conditions; intelligent decision-making systems have also been enhanced, with data-driven tools and machine learning algorithms supporting physicians and enhancing care quality.

Patient genomic analysis also personalises medication dosages, which minimise side effects. “These innovations promise to enhance healthcare access, improve outcomes, and drive economic growth in West Africa,” the report stated.

It noted that digital health tools could enable the realisation of healthcare expenditure efficiency gains. “Virtual interactions (Teleconsultation, Remote Monitoring etc) account for approximately 35 per cent of potential efficiency gains in Nigeria (up to $1.2 billion),” the report said.

It also stated that paperless data accounts for 30 per cent of the potential efficiency gains in 2030 in Kenya (up to $700 million), 26 per cent in Nigeria (up to $900 million), and 30 per cent in South Africa (up to $3.3 billion).

The report further gave real-time examples of newly invented products and services which, according to it, shape the region’s healthcare landscape. Some of them include telemedicine, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), AI-Powered Diagnostics, Medical Drones, and Personalised Medicine.

For instance, with regard to AI-powered diagnostics, the report said Helium Health’s Doctoora processed over one million patient cases, adding, “AI-powered diagnostics market by 2030, if widely adopted, the increased efficiency could save Nigeria between $700 million to $3.3 billion, representing 4 to 10 per cent of the total projected healthcare spending.”

According to Fortune Business Insights, global medical drone delivery market was valued at $1.05 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $3.62 billion by 2030.  The report said Zipline’s network delivered 40,000 blood units and two (2) million vaccines in Rwanda and Ghana

On personalised medicine, Medic West Africa said 54gene raised over $50 million, developing personalized treatments for prevalent diseases.

On telemedicine, the report, based on market data forecast, said the Middle East and Africa Telemedicine market is expected to grow from $4.28 billion to $7.14 billion by 2028, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.8 per cent during the following five years

Also, Africa’s EHR market is projected to reach $2.4 billion by 2027, with eHealth Ghana, for instance, boasting digitised records for over 10 million patients.

Overall, the report said hospitals in West Africa were expected to see substantial growth, reaching $12.57 billion in revenue in 2023, but that the market is forecast to continue growing steadily at eight (8) per cent each year, reaching $18.53 billion by 2028.

It, however, said Nigeria’s hospitals market was expected to generate $8.21 billion in revenue by 2023, and is predicted to increase at a 9.90 per cent annual rate (CAGR 2023-2028), resulting in a market volume of $13.16 billion by 2028.

As per the Nigeria Health Facility Registry (HFR), the report said there are 22,978 licensed healthcare facilities in Nigeria. This includes 16,359 (71.19 per cent) public healthcare facilities and 6,619 (28.80 per cent) private ones.