Healthcare Infrastructure in Nigeria, Key Opportunities 2017–2020

Nigeria has the largest consumer base in Sub-Saharan region. A larger part of the population living in urban areas is a favorable indicator for market entry. Robust growth of around 7% for the past decade is threatened by macroeconomic challenges, particularly exchange-rate volatility and falling global oil prices that impact public-sector spending. Nigeria is the most populated country in the African continent with a population of approximately 186 million in 2016. The mixture of a large population, a swelling middle class with the capability to pay for services, an increasing demand for specialist facilities, and high-quality care which is evident from the large number of outbound medical tourists from the country. Despite the fact that a vast segment of Nigeria's population utilizes private health services and spends an enormous out-of-pocket share toward health expenditures, a sizable part of it is spent on low-quality services and products. Also, the unavailability of consistent and timely data on the Nigerian health sector for decision making pushes companies intending to invest in Nigeria to conduct a thorough market assessment for the specific products and services they plan to bring in. In order to harness the resources in both the public and the private healthcare sectors in Nigeria, the country has developed a National Policy on public private partnerships for health, aligned with the National Health Policy. The importance of public private partnerships is increasing due to the revitalization of the healthcare industry and the new hospital market, with the government often providing land for the project as well as security for investments. Nigeria suffers a heavy burden of infectious diseases, particularly malaria, and experiences frequent outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera, which in some instances, requires hospitalization. Additionally, Nigeria has been witnessing an increase in the incidence of non-communicable diseases, which often lead to hospitalization if the condition is not well-managed. This increase in incidence of chronic and infectious diseases sets up an immense pressure to diagnose and treat faster and in a cost-effective manner. This makes requires a transformation of the healthcare infrastructure in Nigeria. This research intends to provide a clear indication of the current healthcare landscape in Nigeria as well as the level of development that currently exists in this market. The research service will highlight some key areas for investment in Nigeria, while many industries are still in a latent stage of development. In this way, the research service can begin to answer questions regarding the time horizon for future investment in key supporting industries such as private hospitals, health insurance, and more specialized devices, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare services.