More than ever before, Ghanaians have seen their access to health care improve, and as a result they are living longer, healthier lives. Since the roll-out of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2005, 10.2m active subscribers had been added to the scheme as of end-2014, out of a total population of 25m. This has led to improvements in average life expectancy, which, in the decade...
Africa Health
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Situated on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, Ghana’s natural resource wealth and status as a stable democracy have helped make it a prominent player in the region. It is the world’s second-largest exporter of cocoa, behind Côte d’Ivoire, and one of the continent’s largest gold producers. Recently discovered reserves of oil and gas have powered the economy to double-digit growth in the past decade.
Although total expenditure on health per capita has stayed fairly constant in Morocco, advances have been made to improve the provision and delivery of health care. A 2011 constitutional amendment enshrined access to health care as a basic right, with increasing amounts of public financing going towards expanding health services, although work remains to extend coverage to uninsured segments...
Benefitting from strong ties to both Europe and the Arab world, Morocco has the right ingredients for future growth: low inflation, political stability, an industrial base and a favourable climate. With the outlook improving for Morocco’s trade partners and the lower price of oil – of which the country is a net importer – most observers expect growth to be even stronger in 2015, with estimates ranging from 4.4% to 5.0%.
With almost half of all Nigerians living below the poverty line and facing the dual burden of a high incidence of both infectious and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), Nigeria’s under-funded public health system is under significant pressure. Accordingly, international aid organisations and the private sector have a major role to play in alleviating the burden on the state, and there is a...
Fresh from a rebasing exercise in April 2014 that boosted 2013 GDP by 89% to $509.97bn, Nigeria now ranks not only as Africa’s most populous country, but also as its largest economy. It has long played an outsized regional role, making up 76% of West Africa’s GDP and around 60% of its population.