Despite making up half of the human population, women’s health remains under-researched and underfunded globally. The situation is worse in Africa. Despite a recent boom in fintech startups on the continent, why does women’s health tech, aka FemTech, remain underdeveloped?

• Nigeria alone has 217 Fintech startups, and African FinTech startups raised a total of USD 1.55 billion capital in 2023

• According to a 2022 report by Briter Bridges, over 500 EdTech startups in Africa raised $24.6 million in 2022.

• After cleaning this list of the 76 FemTech startups in Africa to fit the correct definition of FemTech and account for only those still operating—either from an existing/active website or social media pages, only 28 currently active FemTechs in Africa could be confirmed.

The above figures do not directly compare these sectors. They show the magnitude at which all other sectors are improving while FemTech is left out. Venture Capitalists (VCs) and investors often believe that women-centred markets, products, and startups are too niched and thus unprofitable.

So, before we go further into this, let’s look at some figures:

• There are about 583.2 million women in Africa, according to the World Population Prospects, 2022.

• Women represented 50.14% of the continent’s population as of 2021.

• A recent report by Rwazi, a global consumer data company, showed that women control over $30 trillion in consumer spending worldwide. A figure expected to increase to $40 trillion by 2030.

• According to Statista, the beauty and personal care industry (of which women are the primary consumers) is one of the fastest growing in Africa. It is projected to generate revenue of $65.93 billion by the end of 2024, almost as much as the projection for the United States market, which is $100 billion by the end of 2024.

• Globally, the Femtech market has seen an increasing rate of interest and investment. Guidea predicts the market will be worth $1 trillion by 2030. 

• With an increased focus on the advancement of women’s health, the continent could add $316 billion to its GDP by 2025

• Research has shown women are likely to spend 29% more per capita on healthcare and are 75% more likely than men to use digital tools for health-related information. 

From periods to fertility and pregnancy to postpartum to menopause and all the other layers within and between, being a woman means experiencing your body in many different phases. As Clue CEO Ida Tin said, ‘There’s an emerging understanding that there are many needs, and where there are many needs, there are also many opportunities.’ This deep dive aims to identify Africa's many needs and untapped FemTech opportunities.

What is Femtech?

Short for female technology, Femtech refers to software, services, and innovations that focus on and are tailored toward women’s bodies and health issues. The industry could be divided into different markets, such as maternal health, menstruation, contraceptives, and pelvic health.

FemTech was initially coined by Ida Tin, founder and CEO of Clue, a period tracking app. According to a Business Insider article, Tin realised how much technology was advancing, yet little progress was being made in the science and understanding of women’s bodies and health. She saw a need to create the sector name FemTech because she wanted it to be easier to categorise and discover the rising number of startups built specifically for women.

Note that FemTech does not refer to:

• All startups built or run by women.

• Healthcare startups founded by women.

• Companies developing baby monitoring devices or other childcare products for parents.

• Health startups that also serve women.

• Non-profit organisations.

Why FemTech?

It is usual for people to wonder why there is a need for FemTech. Why can’t we simply focus on health tech? Why should there be a difference between male and female health tech solutions? 

Here are two significant reasons why:

• First, women’s health issues are more diverse than men’s health issues. Research has also shown that there is a disparity between women's and men's issues. Men's and women’s bodies also experience different symptoms in response to the same medical problems. 

To directly quote a paragraph from a paper on sex and racial bias on the impact of life and healthcare sectors, ‘Studies have shown that there are "sex differences in every tissue and organ system in the human body, as well as in the ‘prevalence, course and severity’ of the majority of common human diseases”, including “the fundamental mechanical workings of the heart”, lung capacity, prevalence of autoimmune diseases, antibody responses and adverse reactions to vaccines, blood serum-biomarkers for autism, immune cells used to convey pain signals, how cells die following a stroke, the expression of genes important in drug metabolism, and in the presentation and outcome of diseases like Parkinson’s, stroke and brain ischaemia, to name just a few examples.  In addition, the timing of treatment during a person’s menstrual cycle has also been found to impact outcomes and appropriate dosages for a wide range of drugs, including antipsychotics, antidepressants, antihistamines, antibiotics, and heart medications.’

• Second, there is still not enough data on women’s health. Until 1993, women weren’t included in clinical trials. And according to data, only 4% of all healthcare research dollars are dedicated to women’s health issues. A count of all the titles and abstracts on ResearchGate showed five times more research into erectile dysfunction, which affects approximately 19% of men, compared to premenstrual syndrome (PMS), which affects about 90% of women in different forms.

FemTech is needed to provide solutions and fill these long-neglected gaps. With FemTech startups, women can become smarter about their health and access resources tailored to address their questions or challenges. The women’s health market is diverse, and these femtech solutions cover many areas and opportunities. 

The State of FemTech Globally Vs Africa

Currently, there are over 1,000 FemTech startups worldwide. The market is expected to be valued at USD 50.97 billion in 2023 and achieve a revenue of $177.05 billion by 2032. Between 2024 and 2032, the market is expected to grow at a Continuous Annual Rate (CAGR) of 15.38%.

Even though FemTech accounts for only 4% of the total investments in healthcare, VC funding has continuously increased over the years—from $107 million in 2012 to $1.1 billion in 2021. This state could be attributed to investors increasingly seeing the need for FemTech solutions and the potential of these startups to grow beyond expectations. At the moment, the industry has seven unicorns.

Narrowing this to the African market, where the region accounts for only 2% of the global FemTech market, there are 28 confirmed femtechs in total. Of these, only nine have received funding, and one has been acquired.

FemTech Distribution in Africa by Region

When classified by region, East Africa had the most FemTech startups, with ten. Southern Africa had eight, West Africa had seven, and North Africa had only three.

FemTech Distribution in Africa: by Categories

Following the earlier definition of FemTech, the 28 African startups can be divided into five main categories:

• Pregnancy and Maternal Health - 60.7%

• Period Health - 10.7%

• Reproductive and Sexual Health - 21.4%

• Cancer/Oncology - 3.6%

• Lifestyle - 3.6%

Given that Africa has one of the highest maternal mortality rates, 17 out of 28 FemTech startups on the continent are targeting that in some way, whether via telehealth, virtual consultations, communities, or platforms that support and educate women, etc. Reproductive and sexual health make up only six of the total startups. Period health has three, while cancer and lifestyle have one each.

For a continent where:

•  Unintended pregnancies are the highest in the world

• Women spend up to 13% of their monthly income on menstrual products, according to the BBC

• Period poverty and shaming are still dominant, with one in ten girls missing out on school because they cannot access menstrual products.

• Studies on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis, two common causes of infertility in women, are scanty, with data that shows it affects about 16% to 32% of African women.

• According to the World Bank, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), excluding HIV, are the second most common cause of death amongst African women aged 15 - 44. This demographic also accounts for 17% of the total disease population.

These figures reveal a significant gap in the reproductive, sexual, and period health sectors. A lot of African women are left behind because of either a lack of knowledge, access or a fear of shaming if they seek the necessary help.

Topics surrounding women’s health and reproduction in Africa are regarded as taboos, so women do not publicly speak about them. Localised technology is needed to bridge this gap and provide them with a community, a safe space, and easy access to knowledge and resources.

Why African Women Need Localised FemTech Solutions

FemConnect is a South African app redefining access to female hygiene products and information on sexual and reproductive health. In an interview with TechCabal, the founder, Asonele Kotu, mentioned starting FemConnect because she realised how limiting foreign apps were to her as a South African woman. This is just one example. In many ways, these foreign apps probably unintentionally exclude African women in the following ways:

• Language barriers that may make them difficult to use.

•  Only about 10% of Sub-Saharan African teenagers have regular access to the internet, meaning these apps are primarily unusable here since there are no low-tech options.

• Cultural and social differences affect the ways African women interact with and talk about their bodies in comparison to Western women, who are more open.

• A lack of data specific to African women’s needs and behaviours.

• Or simply being unavailable to the African continent.

These apps and products were initially built to focus on women in the global West and only get here as an afterthought. This shows the lapses many women experience when using them. Aside from Grace Health, a Swedish FemTech attempting to reach women in developing countries and emerging markets by providing an 8.3MB app and partnerships with local hospitals like Quadcare in South Africa, no one else is building with African women in mind. In light of this, African women cannot continue hoping to be remembered. Africa needs more localised FemTech solutions to meet its women’s needs and compete with the global market.

The Challenges with FemTech in Africa

While the global FemTech scene sees more startups entering the market each year, the reverse is true in Africa, where more shut down operations. When most solutions available are foreign and not localised for their specific use or even accessible to women in rural areas, what does this say for the future of women's health on the continent?

The African FemTech market's significant challenges can be summarised into two categories.

•  Cultural and religious barriers that make women’s bodies and related topics taboo.

• Access to investments and funding: FemTech startups struggle to access financing globally. The industry accounts for about 4% of the total investments in healthcare, making it difficult for startups to grow and keep running. This difficulty in accessing funding can be attributed to most VCs being male-led and the belief that a market of 583.2 million people (African women) is too niche with no scalability options. A belief that the continuous growth and success of the beauty industry, as well as the increasing returns of investing in women, proves to be a myth.

Opportunities for FemTech in Africa

Before venturing into this market, it is vital to know and understand the specific opportunities or gaps it offers. The African Femtech market is still in its conception stages. Considering the continent's economic, social, and general affairs, here are five new/currently sparse opportunities for anyone looking to explore the Femtech scene. These are suggestions based on current trends and existing gaps/needs.

Data

Currently, most FemTech data doesn’t include Africans or African women. It is either outdated, nonexistent, or borrowed from the West. This makes understanding and quantifying issues here and building proper solutions difficult. The lack of data is a gaping hole that needs to be filled. Doing this will create a source of information and valuable insight for FemTech startups looking to expand into or build for African countries, government bodies, NGOs, and many others.

Data is such a significant opportunity in this market that it is also one of the common reasons FemTech startups need help getting funding. Jess Jackson, an investment manager at Praetura Ventures, a VC firm, said the lack of data and time required to conduct studies to back up their technological solutions discourages possible investments. This happens because most investors need and expect immediate returns and, as such, want ready data.

Educational Platforms & Communities

One of the easiest ways to help women and young girls with their bodies and health is to make education and knowledge accessible. Schools may gloss over discussing these concerns, or women may be burdened by shame, guilt, or fear in the home. The community on educational platforms provides a safe space for them to share, understand, and learn. These communities could also help women access discrete care. An excellent example is the hashtag #MummyTwitter on X, formerly known as Twitter. The hashtag's success with women and new moms in getting advice or medical help proves that women desire and use platforms for sharing information. Also, in a private survey of 63 middle- to upper-class African women in 2021, when asked what they loved most about their apps, about 37 responded with an answer that highlighted education or community.

These communities and platforms should also have or be made low-tech to accommodate girls and women without access to a frequent internet connection. Mediums like WhatsApp, Telegram, and even USSD chatbots are some low-tech options that can be considered. Niched communities or platforms by experts and for specific situations and conditions are also highly encouraged. For example, Fitbee is a FemTech fitness and nutrition web app and community for women in India with PCOS and other hormonal imbalances.

Postpartum Care

While there are a lot of products targeted towards pregnant women, there aren’t many with adequate provisions for all that comes after. Not all pregnancies end as anticipated. Some pregnancies will end with a special needs baby that mothers are not equipped to care for. Others end with long-lasting changes to the physical and mental well-being of the mother. Building products around these needs is very important and an untapped but promising area.

Mental Health

Despite the apathy surrounding mental health issues, progress is being made. Recently, the number of mental health startups in Africa has risen. Most prominent are startups such as Nguvu Health in Nigeria and Ahkili in Tunisia.

Globally, the mental health market is worth $38 billion—20% of the digital health market. Yet, there are zero solutions built specifically for women in Africa and only about a handful for women globally. Research by Mayo Clinic shows women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression than men. Also, one in seven women suffer from prenatal anxiety, and 10% to 20% of women deal with postpartum depression. All these signal a need and opportunities for digitally accessible mental health solutions.  

Supplements and Nutrition 

Of the 30 confirmed Femtech startups in Africa, only Honest Hormones, a South African Femtech, works in this area. Honest Hormones develops safe and clinically tested supplements and chocolates to help women with PMS, cramps, and endometriosis. It also produces a ‘birth control balancer’ to help alleviate the many side effects of birth control pills.

In these times when organic and clean eating are significant trends among millennial women, FemTech has ample opportunities to explore the potential of creating supplements, healthy meal plans, and nutritional guides. Nutrition also plays a big role in women’s general health, including periods, PCOS, and pregnancy. The opportunity exists to create accessible nutritional plans using local ingredients and personalised services that match each woman's needs. Needed is an example of a FemTech providing dietary supplements to women across multiple phases of life.

FemTech is a growing market worldwide, with increasing interest and innovations changing how women access healthcare. In Africa, FemTech is still playing catch-up, and development opportunities abound. However, developing this industry requires constant awareness and education on its potential.

Africa is a continent with 54 countries. Each country is at different stages of technological adoption but is constantly growing, with 570 million internet users as of 2022. As the continent progresses in the digital age and more people, including women and young girls, get on the internet, they will seek solutions to women’s health challenges. 

Technological adoption on the continent is happening fast, and the tech industry is changing how people access things. From online shopping to finances and general health care. But with all of these advancements, even in health tech, there still needs to be progress in FemTech. The market has the potential for growth as opportunities in the field abound. With adequate support and investment into FemTech ideas and startups, this sector stands a chance at contributing to sustainable development and innovation on the continent.

References

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