The GIZ Initiative Health Innovation Africa programme enables African innovators from the health sector to access German and European markets and has come to a successful conclusion at GABS. In the course of last year, eight companies participated in the programme.
The GABS is an important networking and professional event in the German-African business context. Business and political experts meet there to explore opportunities for cooperation and to strengthen the German-African relationship in the context of current challenges and with a view to the future. Participants included Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck, ambassadors from Germany and African countries, as well as Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office Katja Keul and State Secretary at the BMZ Jochen Flasbarth.
Representatives of the companies participating in Health Innovation Africa were Shona McDonald from Shonaquip, Lyndon Mungur from Medical Diagnostech, Daniel Kimani from Ohospital and Zanga Musakuzi from Medsearch Zambia. Over the three days, they were able to listen to various presentations, network with other companies in the health sector and even participate in a panel.
Lyndon Mungur, the founder of a test kit company that was one of the first to produce antigen tests in Africa, was invited to the BMZ's Just Transition panel. The panel discussed how to make the transition to a carbon-neutral world equitable in combination with sustainable economic development. There, he mainly brought in his experience from the African health sector with regard to global transformation processes.
Within the Health Innovation Africa format, the companies worked towards the GABS through seminars and training. Each company was also assigned a Health Innovation Africa "buddy" whom they could consult for advice and who assisted in contacting various associations and companies in the health sector. The entrepreneurs prepared their pitches, clearly defined their offer but also the requirements for a partnership and already came into contact with the first potential partners through their business opportunities on leverist.de. The GABS, the best-known event for networking between German and African business, was a fitting conclusion to this successful project.
"The entrepreneurs were able to get a better picture of the German perspective on cooperation through the various presentations and keynotes and have also been able to make many exciting contacts through the 'Health Innovation in Africa' panel," said Bennet Niemann, project manager at Piron and 'buddy' of the Ohospital company. Afterwards, the entrepreneurs once again expressed their appreciation.
Shona McDonald: "Excellent Summit with many opportunities".
Daniel Kimani: "GABS 2022 cannot be put into words. I met great people and decision makers in the African and German markets. As we continue to learn and change Africa piece by piece, we have to keep coming together and having difficult conversations. Some of the key points I took away were ideas for Africa's healthcare, energy, climate and agriculture. Thank you Bennet Niemann and the team at Health Innovation Africa, Alexa Gerrard and Meghan Rossouw. It was great to meet Zanga Musakuzi, Shona McDonald and Lyndon Mungur in person after several months of virtual exchanges."
Zanga Musakuzi: "Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to learn so much and for the great environment in which we can continue to grow our health innovations and contribute to our country's health sector."
The future development of these eight innovative companies remains exciting and their business opportunities can still be found on the partner page.
Image copyright: GABS, 2022
