Providing premium solutions to the challenges in the healthcare industry in Sub Saharan Africa
.
The Healthcare Industry is one of the most important & biggest economic sector in any country. Just as every challenge opens up other opportunities where people requires services, as more people face health challenges there is an increased need for the services of Healthcare Practitioners such as Doctors, Health Insurance, Diagnostic Centers, Nurses, Pharmacist amongst others.
In Sub Saharan Africa, the Healthcare industry has for decades suffered enormous challenges ranging from lack of funding, lack of infrastructure & amenities, Equipment & Supplies deficit due to high cost of foreign exchange, brain drain as result of quality doctors seeking greener pastures outside the shores of Sub Saharan Africa.
The brain drain challenge in Sub Saharan African Healthcare has resulted in an overworked existing work force. For example, according to data from the U.K. General Medical Council, there are at least 8,178 medical doctors of Nigerian origin working in the United Kingdom This exodus has worsened healthcare in a country that has one doctor for every 5,000 people, according to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).
with Partners in Kigali, Rwanda
As a result of the challenges mentioned, the Healthcare Sector in Sub Saharan Africa has not been at its optimal thereby affecting service delivery, revenues and thereby the growth of the industry. Also due to these challenges, there has been an increased growth in Medical Tourists from Sub Saharan African countries to other parts of the world such as USA, UK, UAE, India, Thailand, Turkey amongst others. These medical tourists go for treatment ranging from Kidney Transplants, Open heart or Cardiac Surgeries, Neurosurgery amongst others. Recent statistics show that Nigerians spend over $1.3 Billion on treatments outside the shores of Nigeria on annual basis.
It is important to note that there is no country that can provide all the healthcare options for its citizens and at the right prices, even in developed countries we have seen situations where medical tourist go from a developed country to a developing country for Medical Services due to cheaper cost. Medical tourists from countries like USA, UK visit countries like India, Thailand etc for certain medical procedures that are cheaper there. Due to globalization and ease of travel, there is a limit on restrictions on how people seek their healthcare solutions. For countries in Sub Saharan African countries to stem the tide of increase in number of Medical Tourists outside its shores, the only solution is to provide equivalent Healthcare services locally.
Recently, we had a media chat with Oluwarotimi Oladokun Okula, the managing partner of Le Groenland Business Solutions FZ LLE, Dubai, UAE (A Medical Industry Service Provider focused on Sub Saharan African Countries). He spoke a lot on global healthcare as relates to Sub Saharan Africa, the misconceptions & challenges of medical tourism and how his organization has impacted the lives of many, below is the excerpts of our chat:
BRIEF BACKGROUND
My name is Oluwarotimi Oladokun Okula, I am the Managing Partner of Le Groenland Business Solutions FZ LLE, Dubai, UAE. I am a graduate of Management & Accounting of the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. I am a Chartered Accountant with 15+ years in the financial services industry having worked in five (5) banks in Nigeria during this period and over 6years experience in Healthcare Service industry.
ABOUT LE GROENLAND BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FZ LLE, DUBAI, UAE
Le Groenland Business Solutions FZ LLE, a company licensed & regulated in the United Arab Emirates, with a presence in Dubai was set up in 2015. It is a member of the Le Groenland Group with Business Interest in the Gulf & Sub Saharan Africa Countries. We are a service provider to the Healthcare industry with a focus on Sub Saharan African Countries. Our Core Services are Medical Evacuation & Tourism Facilitation Services, Medical Equipment & Supplies Broking Services and Providing Business & Financial Advisory Services for the Healthcare Industry Players in Sub Saharan African Countries.
Our Vision is to be one of the foremost catalysts to the resurgence of the Healthcare Industry in Sub Saharan Africa. We currently partner with over 1,098 Hospitals, 80 Health Insurance/ Maintenance Organizations, 628 Doctors, 78 Diagnostics Centers, 6 Health Foundations in 29 Sub Saharan African Countries. We have also built a robust & expansive network of 85 Treatment Hospitals in 19 Countries Globally such as the UAE, India, US, Israel, Turkey, Spain, Poland, Egypt & amongst others (15 of the hospitals are in 3 countries in Sub Saharan Africa), this is structured to afford our patients from Sub Saharan African Countries quality medical services & multiple options at affordable prices.
Under our Medical Equipment & Supplies Broking Services our goal is to ensure that Medical & Health Facilities in Sub Saharan African Countries access quality equipment & supplies at the best prices possible, this will ensure improved service delivery in the Healthcare Sector in Sub Saharan Africa. Our Business & Financial Services brings the needed Business & Financial acumen to Medical & Health Care Players in Sub Saharan Africa to ensure the industry is run optimally, commercially & profitably to guarantee growth, retain quality hands and efficient service delivery.
.
FUTURE FOR LE GROENLAND BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FZ LLE, DUBAI, UAE
Our overall objective is to be the topmost service provider in the Healthcare Sector in Sub Saharan Africa. To achieve this objective, we have broken down our plans into Short, Medium & Long Term Plans. Our Short Term Plan is to have the largest partnerships & collaborations under our Medical Evacuation & Tourism Facilitation Services in Sub Saharan Africa. We currently have over 1,890 Patients Referral Partners in 29 Sub Saharan African Countries. These partnerships form the base for our other services such as standing as a formidable brokerage company for sales/purchase of Medical Equipment & Supplies; and Business & Financial Advisory Services for the Healthcare Sector in Sub Saharan Africa.
Under our Medium Term Plan, we have created a platform that serves as an interface between our global healthcare partners & healthcare partners and practitioners in Sub Saharan African countries where there is the exchange of ideas & knowledge thereby sharpening the skills of Healthcare Practitioners in Sub Saharan Africa. We commenced this initiative in November 2019 where we facilitated the visit of the board of one of the biggest public sector hospital in Lagos, Nigeria to our partner hospital in the UAE – Saudi German Hospital, Dubai. The Board Members visited the facilities, equipment, exchanged ideas and also discussed partnership options amongst others.
Our long term plan is to stimulate foreign direct investments in the healthcare sector in Sub Saharan Africa, via the building of Hospitals this will be achieved through partnerships we have formed and still forming, we plan to set up healthcare equipment financing companies that would provide medical equipment financing solutions with long term funding to Healthcare Practitioners to create access to much-needed equipment & supplies, boost & improve service delivery in the healthcare sector in Sub Saharan Africa and thereby ensure growth.
OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES OF THE INDUSTRY
The Healthcare Sector is historically one of the very few industries that has not suffered a financial depression, as they say, “Health is Wealth”. Therefore, the opportunities in the industry are enormous, for finance & insurance companies, there is effective demand for health services, there are also huge opportunities in health insurance in Sub Saharan African Countries as less than 20% of nationals have health insurance cover. For Manufacturers of Healthcare Equipment, there is a huge demand in Sub Saharan African Countries as there is gross equipment & supplies deficit, for Business & Financial Advisory firms – the healthcare industry in Sub Saharan African Countries requires financial & business re-engineering to take it to the next level, this will require the services of Business & Financial Experts.
As with all industries, the healthcare sector in Sub Saharan Africa has its enormous challenges amongst which are infrastructural and amenities challenges, high foreign exchange rate affecting the purchase of needed medical equipment, brain drain challenges as our best hands are usually leaving for perceived greener pastures, lack of funding by local financial institutions and where finance is available it is usually short term, government apathy towards the growth of the industry amongst others.
At Le Groenland Business Solutions FZ LLE, based on our experience dealing with healthcare facilities globally, our short term proffered solutions to the challenges in the healthcare sector in Sub Saharan Africa is that practitioners should, first of all, pay less attention to seeking any support from the public sector as the status quo of inept leadership does not appear to likely change in the political space at least in the short run. For us the expected change in the healthcare sector in Sub Saharan Africa will most likely be from Private Sector Initiatives, the healthcare sector needs to be run optimally and commercially and not as a pseudo-charity, this will ensure profitability and ensure availability of funds to re-invest in equipment & supplies, pay competitive salaries to quality doctors and retain them. Profitability of any venture is key to encouraging financiers & investors in any sector; in essence, Healthcare Sector in Sub Saharan Africa must be presented and run as a profitable venture which it is, that is when much-needed capital will be injected into it by investors.
COVID-19 EFFECTS & OUR MITIGANTS
As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, our Medical Evacuation & Tourism Facilitation Services was grossly affected as the travels & tours related businesses globally were the worst hit in the COVID-19 era. As a company, when the pandemic became full blow by March 2020 and upon realizing the challenges ahead, we decided to retain existing staff, suspend new recruitment plans to manage cost, we re-strategized and focused more on aggressively building more partnerships across the value chain of the healthcare sector in Sub Saharan Africa. To this end, we grew over Patients Referral Partnerships from 322 partners in March ending 2020 to 1,890 partners by June, 2021, we also grew our Treatment Hospital Partnerships from 50 in March Ending 2020 to 85 by June, 2021. Whilst the pandemic has been challenging to us, it also has become an opportunity for our company to take our business to the next level.
During the pandemic era, we also began a unique type of Medical Evacuation & Tourism Facilitation Service between patients & hospitals in Sub Saharan African countries. We currently partner with 15 Treatment Hospitals in 3 Sub Saharan African Countries i.e Nigeria, Ghana & Kenya, we refer patients to these hospitals in areas they have shown proven competencies. It is also our company’s show of confidence in the health sector in Sub Saharan Africa and our belief that things will surely get better in the nearest future.
Whilst there are some mis-conceptions about Medical Tourism Facilitators in Healthcare in Sub Saharan Africa, it is important to note the service is not directly the cause of the challenges in the Healthcare industry but rather is a part of the solutions to the challenges the Healthcare Industry in Sub Saharan African currently faces. The mis-conceptions can be likened to blaming doctors for patients falling sick, doctors did not directly cause the patients to be sick, they are actually solution providers. At Le Groenland Business Solutions FZ LLE, we are and would be part of the solutions to the challenges the healthcare industry in Sub Saharan Africa currently faces and we are confident the land and horizon of Healthcare in Sub Saharan Africa will always be GREEN.