Are you Struggling to Break into the Medical / Health Industry in Africa?
Own a business in the medical or health field?
Looking to grow and expand? Then this may be just the thing for you.
Become a part of the medical industry ecosystem and catapult your business into the big league.
Get direct professional help and a potential off-take agreement for your business from one of the industry’s leaders, Aspen Pharmacare.
The new Aspen GIBS Route-to-Market Challenge is a competition for entrepreneurs in the medical and health space.
If you have an existing business that is supporting, producing or servicing the medical or health industry, we want you!
We are offering you an opportunity to pitch your business to Aspen’s head of procurement. This is your chance to step up your business to a whole new level and gain access to new markets.
Take the leap and enter now at routetomarket.co.za
This is not just a competition. It is about growing small- and medium-sized businesses to significantly contribute to the medical and health industries.
If you were sitting in front of the head of procurement at Aspen Pharmacare, what would you say?
Well, start preparing for that conversation! This is your chance to shoot the lights out!
Apply today! Go to routetomarket.co.zato enter.
We are delighted to be a part of this novel initiative. The new and inaugural Aspen GIBS Route-to-Market Challenge, is in collaboration with the Centre for African Management & Markets (CAMM) at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), and powered by Raizcorp.
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We Make Less, but Finance More
South Africa’s mining’s contribution to output more than halved over the last 3 decades, while the manufacturing industry’s contribution has fallen by a quarter.
However, finance and insurance, real estate and business services, on the other hand, has seen its share rise and now contributes over a quarter of total output, up from 17% in 1993.
Hard to picture so-called re-industrialisation against this backdrop.
We must make more things!
If nobody makes the things, there won’t be things to buy (and finance!) in future.
It starts by first creating the business environment conducive for manufacturing and mining – and business in general – before we can expect it to miraculously improve.
Hint: This is a man-made problem. Can be solved by man as well.
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Employment in South Africa
The unemployment rate is inching downwards slowly but remains way too high in SA.
However, the number of employed people is rising in all provinces, except in the North West province.
According to the latest QLFS from StatsSA, the Western Cape (WC) has the highest number of employed people since 2008. But the WC unemployment rate at 22%, is well below the national average rate.
However, in 2008, the WC’s unemployment rate was only 16%. The WC is relatively better than the rest but cannot escape the sovereign state’s inability to stimulate the business environment and economic growth to spur employment creation opportunities.
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The IMF’s World Economic Outlook projects that South Africa will have the highest jobless rate globally in 2023, estimated at > 35%.
However, things are vastly different in the rest of the world.
The US is forecast to have an unemployment rate of 4.6%.
And the jobs market is one of the strongest areas of the global economy, and poses a challenge for central bankers, as it contributes to high inflation.
The unemployment rate in six of the G7 countries hovers near the lowest in a century.
The US jobless rate hasn’t fallen this low since 1969.
But as some economies navigate a strong labour market against high inflation and hawkish monetary policy, others are facing more challenging conditions, like South Africa.
Note: The world economy did not cause South Africa’s jobless rate to be this high. Bad policy making did.