Press Readout: Unlocking Trade and Investment Opportunities between Greater Miami and African Health Care Markets

On Tuesday, September 1, 2020, the CSIS Africa Program—in partnership with Prosper Africa—hosted a private, virtual workshop focused on increasing trade and investment between greater Miami and African health care markets. Covid-19 has highlighted the urgent need to strengthen health care systems across Africa, creating new opportunities for businesses and investors to both generate profit and have a positive social impact. With Greater Miami’s strong health sector, local businesses have a competitive advantage in these markets.

During Tuesday’s workshop, participants (1) deepened economic ties between the greater Miami area and the African continent; (2) identified opportunities for increasing two-way trade and investment between greater Miami and Africa, specifically in the health sector; (3) fostered an open dialogue to address concerns from U.S. companies, whether squeamish or bullish about investment prospects; and (4) connected stakeholders, including U.S. and African representatives in D.C., Dakar, and Cape Town; city officials in the greater Miami area; and U.S. and African companies operating across the region.

Florida companies identified some of the real and perceived obstacles they face when doing business in Africa. In a free-flowing conversation, representatives from the Prosper Africa Initiative shared information about the U.S. government’s robust support package to help companies overcome these obstacles and unlock new opportunities. Participants noted that they need to leverage resources on the ground in the particular countries where they work. Representatives from the new International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) discussed the agency’s commitment to facilitate U.S. investment in African health care markets and representatives from Prosper Africa deal teams in Cape Town and Dakar described how they are using a whole-of-government approach to help U.S. companies build connections, identify opportunities, and advance deals. Since June 2019, Prosper Africa has directly supported more than 280 deals to close across more than 30 African countries for a total value of $22 billion.

Prosper Africa representatives committed to follow up with participating companies to discuss their business models, the specific obstacles and opportunities they may be facing, and how the Prosper Africa toolkit can support them. The Initiative is committed to continuing to engage with Florida’s business community, and especially with Florida’s African Diaspora, which has a strong interest in doing business in Africa and strong cultural ties on which to build. Companies can connect with Prosper Africa at prosperafrica.dfc.gov.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world’s greatest challenges.