115 300
Medical devices are a big part of the pharmaceutical sector, used in diagnosing, preventing, monitoring or even treating medical conditions.
In 2023, the African Medical Devices Market was estimated to be worth almost $4.5 billion US dollars. By 2032, it’s predicted that the sector could increase by almost 75% (73.41%) and be worth almost $8 billion.
Victoria Rubadiri visits Revital Healthcare in Kenya, the largest producer of medical devices on the continent.
In 2008, Revital Healthcare set out on a mission to supply Africa with locally sourced medical devices.
Roneek Vora, the company’s Director of Sales and Marketing, explains that this is because “We wanted to see less importation in Africa happening for critical medical supplies.”
Revital exports its products to 45 countries worldwide, 17 of which are in Africa. Its strategic location near the port of Mombasa is helping to expand its reach.
Pramod Nayak, Revital Healthcare’s Plant Head, describes the Revital’s reach,
“We export to our neighbouring countries including Sub-Saharan Africa and even South Africa. Even some countries, in the West of Africa, like Morocco.”
As healthcare needs change, the company has relied on its own research and development to meet demands. Revital Healthcare’s Regulatory Affairs Officer, Tabitha Musyoka shows Rubadiri,
“Our newly advanced in-house developed 0.5, early activation, auto disabled syringe. It’s auto disabled. When this syringe is used, it cannot be reused again.”
With its innovative success, Revital has big expansion plans. Last may it opened a rapid test kit production facility which has the capacity to produce 20 million kits a month which can screen for HIV, malaria, hepatitis, and syphilis. Vora tells Rubadiri,
“When we started we had six moulding devices. Today we have over 60 moulding machines, over 600 people working in Revital Healthcare and with a growing capacity of 2.2 billion medical devices per year.”
He continues on Africa’s potential within the healthcare industry,
“This continent has potential. Yes, we have the best mangoes, the best avocados, best agriculture products, mining, but did you know that this continent can also thrive when it comes to healthcare space as well?”
This interview was featured in a recent episode of Connecting Africa on CNN International.