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DHL Regional Conference highlights sector growth opportunities in Africa’s Life Sciences & Healthcare sector

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DHL Regional Conference highlights sector growth opportunities in Africa’s Life Sciences & Healthcare sector:

  • ‘Delivering Healthcare to Africa’ DHL’s Annual Regional Life Sciences & Healthcare Conference focused on life sciences & healthcare supply chains to support African growth in the sector
  • Africa highlighted as market with a positive growth trend in healthcare

Over 125 healthcare professionals and logistics experts came together last week to discuss ‘Delivering Healthcare to Africa’ at DHL’s (www.DPDHL.com) 6th annual Regional Life Sciences & Healthcare conference in Pretoria, South Africa.

According to Deloitte, the Sub-Saharan region as a whole is on a positive growth trend although growth rates vary considerably from as low as 1.52% in South Africa to as high as 9.94% in Ethiopia. Growth in healthcare spend across Africa is forecasted at around 3 percent until 2020, with the top 15 countries with the exception of Gabon currently spending over US$ 1 billion per annum on health.

Africa has positive growth potential in the healthcare sector, but continuous investment in capabilities, quality and innovation are needed to operate successfully across the continent, noted Thomas Ellmann, Vice President EMEA, DHL Life Sciences & Healthcare in his opening speech. 

Africa is considered the final frontier in delivery of healthcare services and there are a number of service delivery challenges to be overcome. According to Ellmann, companies in the sector have quality and process standards high on their list of requirements, in addition to visibility and control throughout the supply chain, from the point of manufacture to the end customer. Temperature control, Good Distribution Practice, trade compliance and regulations, and innovation are all key to success when it comes to the supply chain. “We wanted to address the requirements of the life sciences and health care industry at the conference with leading companies and experts in the sector, and discuss how the industry can adopt the best supply chain strategies to capitalize on Africa’s growth potential,” says Ellmann.

Hennie Heymans, CEO of DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) adds, “We have been in Africa for 38 years and have established ourselves as the market leaders. Africa is home to one of the fastest growing middle classes and access to healthcare products and services is critical. DHL Express is perfectly positioned to support healthcare supply chains in Africa – a market where we continue to see enormous potential and opportunity. Over the past two years we have equipped 16 countries in SSA to handle dangerous goods, enabling the movement of temperature-controlled consignments throughout our network. An additional seven countries are planned for DG-certification in 2017. We have also set up Express Logistics Centers and capabilities in 21 countries across SSA providing the ideal locations for short-term stock holding and the distribution of medical device and diagnostics equipment, electronics and spare parts, with further investment envisioned in this area.”

As the leading logistics provider for the life sciences and healthcare industry, DHL serves customers globally and provides industry-leading capabilities, including time-definite international (TDI) express network covering 220 countries and territories, life sciences-qualified DHL Medical Express services in over 70 countries that enable global access to healthcare through continuous investments in skills, scale and solutions that adapt to ever-changing needs.

Distributed by APO on behalf of Deutsche Post DHL.

Media Contact: 
Megan Collinicos
Head of Marketing, Sub-Saharan Africa
DHL Express
Tel +27 21 409 3613 
Mobile +27 76 411 8570
Megan.Collinicos@DHL.com

About DHL’s Regional Life Sciences & Healthcare conference:
DHL’s Regional Life Sciences & Healthcare Conference included presentations and discussions around key industry trends in the sector. Now in its 6th year, the event focused on enabling networking with peers and industry experts to help gain deeper insight into future developments in the life sciences and healthcare sector in Africa, exchange ideas and view new logistic solutions.

About DHL:
DHL – The logistics company for the world
DHL (www.dpDHL.com) is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL family of divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With about 340,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare, energy, automotive and retail, a proven commitment to corporate responsibility and an unrivalled presence in developing markets, DHL is decisively positioned as “The logistics company for the world”.
DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 59 billion euros in 2015.

For more information: www.dpDHL.com 
Stock images available: www.dpDHL.com/en/media_relations/media_library.html 

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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa.

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