Northern healthcare firms target new opportunities in Africa
Health sector businesses from the Northern Powerhouse could benefit from new export opportunities across Africa thanks to a recent trade mission led by DIT.
Her Majesty's Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for Africa, Emma Wade-Smith
Businesses including Yorkshire鈥檚 Sunflower Medical and Medasil were amongst 16 firms from the north that travelled to trade fair Africa Health 2019 in South Africa as part of a mission organised by DIT and Medilink UK, the UK鈥檚 largest association of Life Sciences and Medical Technology companies.
This comes as a new analysis of HMRC data by DIT found that exports of UK medical equipment reached a record high of 拢1.8 billion in 2018, up by 6% on 2017.
The mission, which saw the delivery of a British pavilion at the exhibition, provided an unrivalled opportunity for the businesses to meet potential new buyers and learn more about overcoming barriers and breaking into new markets in Africa. The businesses were accompanied by life sciences sector specialists from DIT in the north of England.
Bradford鈥檚 Sunflower Medical, which manufactures contemporary functional furniture for medical use, has experienced growing demand from several African markets over recent years, and has already supplied its medical furniture into Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Morocco and Nigeria.
Sunflower Medical鈥檚 Export Sales Manager Paul Hampton believes there are still significant opportunities for expansion with new healthcare projects across the continent.
He said:
We鈥檙e very conscious of the rapidly growing opportunities in African markets, which is why we made the decision to return to Africa Health this year. It鈥檚 great that DIT and Medilink host these missions, as being on the ground at these events is invaluable to companies like ours鈥�.
This year鈥檚 trip proved incredibly fruitful, with an encouraging quantity and quality of sales leads generated. Just over half of sales leads over the three days came from the South African market, with interest also coming from companies looking to represent Sunflower Medical in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi.
Leeds based Medasil, which has been making devices for a range of medical applications since 1974, was also in attendance on the mission.
Medasil鈥檚 Christine Casey commented:
While Medasil doesn鈥檛 currently export to African markets, we鈥檙e keen to venture into new areas of opportunity, which is why we registered for the DIT mission to Africa Health.
We were hugely encouraged by what we saw, and we gained some valuable insights into the opportunities the continent holds. Our exhibit was received very positively and we have returned to the UK with genuine excitement about the opportunities for expansion into the African continent鈥�.
Strengthening the UK鈥檚 partnership with African nations is a key element of the UK Government鈥檚 vision for Global Britain.
Last year the Department for International Trade appointed its first HM Trade Commissioner for Africa, Emma Wade-Smith OBE, who is working closely with HM Ambassadors, High Commissioners and the wider diplomatic network to promote UK trade and prosperity in the region.
Commenting on the recent mission, HM Trade Commissioner for Africa, Emma Wade-Smith OBE said:
I鈥檓 delighted to see Northern Powerhouse businesses exploring the fast-growing opportunities that African markets have to offer.
I鈥檝e seen for myself how the UK鈥檚 expertise in the healthcare sector is the envy of many countries around the world. Coupled with our manufacturing heritage and leading innovation, I have every confidence that British businesses operating in this space will experience strong demand for their products and services over the years ahead.