Startup Africa

Israel has been called Startup Nation. According to CNN, tech is the single biggest sector of the Israeli economy. Sentiment had already taken a hit before the war broke out. Some tech executives said government plans to weaken the judiciary spooked investors, worsening a global slowdown in fundraising for startups.

The war’s most immediate impact on tech firms has come through the workforce. Israel has called up more than 300,000 military reservists to fight in the war, most of them working and studying in Israel, though some have returned from abroad.

SNC estimates that about 10% of tech employees in Israel have been drafted, with the number climbing as high as 30% in some companies.

African countries are emerging as the newest startup nations.

Opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship include:

1. A growing, young population
2. Industrialization
3. Investments in infrastructure, most notably electricity
4. Spreading agriculture and resource wealth
5. Digital transformation
6. Growing talent base
7. Evolving innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems
8. Artificial intelligence

Healthcare is one of the industries targeted for growth. However, to realize the potential, stakeholders will have to overcome the barriers to international physician entrepreneurship.

1. Cultures, political and economic?systems and differing approaches to sick care and health.?

2. Varying definitions of physician entrepreneurship. To some, it means creating companies. To others, it?means running a private practice. It should mean creating user defined value through the deployment of innovation

3. Fear of political leadership to unleash forces beyond their control combined with graft, greed, and corruption in response to international macroeconomic cycles affecting resources, e.g., the global drop in oil prices threatens petro-economies heavily dependent on oil revenues as well as global exchange risk.

4. Varying entrepreneurial ecosystems and access to capital

5 Most doctors around the world don't have an entrepreneurial mindset

6. Differing medical education systems that frequently are not interoperable

7. Fear of physician entrepreneurs.

8. Shifting political winds and geopolitical risk, like he most recent movement from left wing to right wing election wins in Latin America

9.?The emergence of Africa and other developing countries

10. The aging global population, declining birth rates and technology stressing the systems

11. Stereotypes that are wrong about people from other countries that preclude trust and international cooperation.

12. Conflicting business practices and cultures and difficulties doing business in a particular country.

As the effects of the pandemic dissipate, long-term growth is projected to take off between Asia, Eastern Europe, and East Africa. China is expected to be the fastest growing economy per capita, even if the projection finds growth to be slowing from what the country achieved over the past decade. The research finds that countries that have diversified their production into more complex sectors, like Vietnam and China, are those who will experience the fastest growth in the coming decade.

The World Economic Forum lists Rwanda, Tanzania, Mozambique, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia among the fastest growing global economies.

Here is a summary of Kenyan economic growth from 1960 to 2023.

All countries have to solve the same healthcare problem: The demand for services is rapidly increasing while the supply of resources is constrained.

US physicians serve a national population of 331 million people, reflecting a physician-to- population ratio of 307 licensed physicians per 100,000 people, an increase from 277 in 2010. So much for the "physician shortage",

Physicians (per 1,000 people) in Kenya was reported at 0.1565 in 2018, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Kenya - Physicians - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on November of 2023.

The estimated need for surgical procedures worldwide is large and addresses a broad spectrum of disease states. Surgical need varies between regions of the world according to disease prevalence and many countries do not meet the basic needs of their populations. These estimates may be useful for policy makers, funders, and ministries of health as they consider how to incorporate surgical capacity into health system

African physician entrepreneurs will be part of the solutions.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack and Editor of Digital Health Entrepreneurship