These service providers know their markets are small (but growing), and for profitability’s sake, they need to ensure that their locations are within reach of communities that not only require their services, but are able to pay for them too. This is where innovative approaches to consumer data can do a great deal to accelerate the growth of healthcare companies.
Many insurance companies, particularly those well-developed organisations based in South Africa, are looking to improve their bottom lines in the fast-developing regions of Nigeria and East Africa, with one big player boldly stating that the Nigerian market is poised to overtake that of South Africa before long. The right, invaluable data enables a win-win situation for both businesses and communities then – with insurance services placed exactly where people need them, and at a price point they can afford.
A rising middle class, in combination with cutthroat industry competitiveness and both global and localised economic shakiness, means that the pressure is on for the insurance industry. They need to innovatively take their products down-market – to those people in need of better care and who increasingly have the means to pursue it.
It’s up to private healthcare providers to seize these opportunities and realise the potentially great rewards waiting for both them and their clients. But this will only be possible if their introduction into these new markets is done methodically, and in a way that is informed by the best consumer data available for a continent that has traditionally been viewed as a difficult business landscape.
With the right data – creatively applied – these insights can not only improve access to healthcare and chances of business success but stimulate employment and socio-economic growth in a wider community context as well.
