While the progress towards Universal Health Coverage may be slow, the continent looks poised to adopt localised solutions for very regional problems.

For a continent that accounts for 25% of the world disease burden, the healthcare space in Sub-Saharan Africa requires holistic approaches across several verticals to attract the required investment to tackle the growing challenges across the region. According to a report by the IFC, the private-sector arm of the World Bank, it is estimated that by 2022, Africa will need US$25 billion - US$30 billion in investment in physical healthcare assets alone, including hospitals and clinics. Analysis by Frost & Sullivan suggests that, generally, the growth of the Sub-Saharan Africa healthcare market for 2018-2019 will be hampered by the slow down in economic growth across the continent (an average of between 4% and 6%). While this has an effect in multiple areas, this has seen smartphone sales growth reduce from double to single digits since 2016 and will have a direct effect on mHealth.