Misr Capital, Banque Misr’s investment arm, and Elevate Private Equity have unveiled Nile Misr Scan & Labs, a $380 million healthcare investment platform.

After seeding initial contributions Banque Misr’s cash pledge and Elevate Private Equity’s in-kind contribution to the platform, the platform managers hope to raise $150 million before the first closure in Q1 2022.

Elevate Private Equity has established a solid track record as the strategic manager of Nile Scan & Labs Co, achieving a 38 percent CAGR over the last four years, effectively making it the fastest growing healthcare entity in Egypt and the country.

Nile Misr Healthcare is built on the two partners’ strong investment and medical expertise, which will actively manage the fund strategy and acquire highly selective targets with high potential across healthcare verticals such as hospitals, diagnostic facilities, pharmaceuticals, medical education, and digital medical services in Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Responsible investments come at the top of Misr Capital’s priorities, particularly in sectors like healthcare that contribute to the society in which we operate,” said Akef El Maghraby, Chairman of Misr Capital and Vice Chairman of Banque Misr.

“Investing in healthcare not only brings meaningful, tangible benefits to society, but it also aligns with the UN’s Sustainable Development Target 3 and the UN’s Principles of Responsible Investments.”

Tarek Moharram, a healthcare veteran with over 14 years of experience leading, creating, and expanding medical institutions in Egypt, will lead the platform as CEO.

“This collaboration combines Elevate Private Equity’s technological and strategic capabilities with Misr Capital’s esteemed financial and investment track record, resulting in the formation of a forum that will aggressively seek M&A transactions in the extremely fragmented healthcare spaces around our target jurisdictions. Our long-term strategy is to create bigger, integrated institutions that offer robust, world-class healthcare to larger communities across Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa, while also having a positive effect on the broader economies and providing superior returns to investors,” he added.

“Most notably, the platform is founded on a comprehensive expertise set that includes veteran healthcare specialists, seasoned financial executives, and a deep line-up of established investors backed by Banque Misr, one of Africa’s oldest and most renowned banks,” he said.

Following the fulfillment of all requisite permits, the platform is scheduled to sign its first selling and purchasing agreement (SPA) within weeks. Misr Capital’s financial and tax advisors were Ernst & Young Egypt, and its legal advisors were Alliance Law Firm and Al Kamel Law Firm.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has initiated a new $19 million five-year fund to finance programs in Nigeria aimed at enhancing the quality of health worker preparation.

This was revealed in a statement released by USAID in Abuja yesterday, during an event attended by Health Office Director Paul McDermott and other key government health sector officials. It noted that the Health Workforce Management initiative will prepare 100,000 by 2025.

Health Workforce Management will facilitate the establishment of cost-effective, well-trained and empowered health staff in the targeted rural and remote areas of Bauchi, Sokoto, Kebbi and Ebonyi States, as well as the Federal Capital Territory.

“We invest in health staff because good and skilled human capital for health boost health outcomes and save lives. The operation will help efforts to resolve the current problems faced by health workers in Nigeria,” McDermott said at the virtual ceremony.

Health Staff Management will enhance human capital, boost the governance of health workers and create interventions to improve the retention of health workers. The activity is expected to generate 100,000 additional health professionals over the next five years, capable of responding to existing and potential health needs of the communities of the targeted states,” the statement said.

Health Workforce Management will prepare these primary health care employees to help develop a more capable workforce that can adapt to health demands, increase the delivery and skill balance of front-line workers, and enhance training organizations so they will implement and apply more effective human resource management techniques.

“The plan could not have came at a better time. Addressing health worker maldistribution by generating the required expertise mix of frontline health staff at the primary care level would be more effective. We look forward to meaningful progress and promise to collaborate with and support USAID every step of the way,” Dr. Usman Adamu, Director of Primary Health Care Services Development at the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, said.

Banyan Global will carry out the operation in partnership with Abt Associates, the Institute for Healthcare Development, and Solina Health. It’s part of a $793 million USAID program of activities aimed at integrating health care delivery at the primary level, generating demand for health services, and improving supply chain management at the subnational level.

Vezeeta, a digital healthcare network in the Middle East and Africa, has announced the introduction of its ePharmacy solution (Vezeeta Pharmacy), which helps consumers to order prescription drugs via a smartphone app.

Using the mobile app, users of Vezeeta will upload their e-prescriptions, add their insurance requirements, select cash or cashless payment options before checking out, and arrange same-day home delivery in Cairo and Giza.

Patients may now integrate their pharmacy expertise with medical tele-consultation, as well as 24/7 access to approved pharmacists and service providers. This ensures that they can fulfill their wellbeing needs effortlessly, from start to finish.

“We’re on a wonderful patient ride. By giving our consumers the data to choose from and the best digital resources to be used, Vezeeta continues to inspire its patients in every step of health care,” said Amir Barsoum, Founder & CEO at Vezeeta

In addition to the launch of the big disruptor, Vezeeta, via its CEO, has also revealed plans to pump more than US$25 million into its Egyptian market this year. Both steps are coming as the coronavirus set a record-breaking 2020 for the African ehealth market.

“We’re the first digitally interconnected physicians in our healthcare ecosystem, and now we’re doing the same for pharmacists. Our pharmacists receive outstanding training and compensation to ensure that every customer has a positive experience, every time they log in to the Vezeeta app,” Maha Melhem, Vice President of ePharmacy at Vezeeta, said.

Vezeeta, according to Melhem, adheres to stringent hygiene requirements with its exclusive high-quality packaging, meaning that patients can rely on the organization to provide critical medicines in one hour or less.

The e-solution is a core component of Vezeeta’s robust healthcare offering, which also provides physical and virtual doctor appointments, as well as lab and scan access. Both of these are meant to improve patient accessibility and affordability.

Vezeeta Pharmacy has treated over a million patients in Cairo and Giza to date, with additional cities expected to be added in the immediate future. Vezeeta strives to provide patients with their free medical history on the smartphone app through its in-pharmacy SaaS, e-prescriptions, teleconsultations, and AI-assisted distribution.

Vezeeta is helping more people save time, money, and stress while accessing quality services, optimizing clinical outcomes, and putting patient happiness at the center of its technologies by delivering uninterrupted interactive healthcare experiences to patients from the comfort of their own homes.

CDC Group, the UK development finance institution, has announced a $100 million minority equity stake in Alfa Medical Group (AMG) alongside the healthcare investor Africa Network Capital, Simon Rowlands’ family office.

“For 25 years, the Alfa Medical Company has played a crucial role in changing the lives of millions of Egyptians by ensuring access to affordable healthcare. Its labels are known in the medical industry for offering high-quality diagnostics and care using state-of-the-art technology,” said Sherine Shohdy, Coverage Director, CDC, Egypt.

“This investment shows the devotion of CDC to collaborating with leading Egyptian firms, creating much-needed patient capital that can only be offered through our model. With over 20 years of experience investing here in Egypt, this year we remain optimistic in working with more local businesses.”

The investment would allow AMG to enhance its medical services efficiency, expand patient access to medical care and extend its hospital presence, including the new Alfa Medical City. The investment will also promote the expansion of AMG’s laboratory sector into undeserved regions in Egypt in particular, as well as the development of Alfa Scan Radiology Centers.

The transaction would also fund the creation of the Alfa Academy, a training academy for AMG employees and third-party healthcare professionals. The Academy will offer instruction to healthcare practitioners, grow permanent, high-quality talent across the industry and enhance patient care. This investment would help to expand the number of hospital beds offering quality healthcare facilities, complementing the Egyptian Government’s efforts to fulfil its vision for Egypt in 2030.

This investment will lead to SDG 3: Ensure safe lives and well-being for all, build employment as defined in SDG 8.5: Produce complete and sustainable jobs, and have better skills preparation as defined in SDG 4.4: Raise the number of people with suitable skills.

Dr Adel Talaat, Chairman and CEO of Alfa Medical Group, said: “As shareholders of Alfa Medical Company, we are proud to welcome CDC, one of the leading financial institutions for growth finance. For our company, the investment marks a significant milestone and will help us to extend our business and accelerate our progress. It also demonstrates the trust that foreign investors have in the Egyptian economy and health care sector.”

“CDC is delighted to work with Dr. Adel Talaat and his team to continue the country’s growth of the community and increase access to healthcare. This contribution is a core component of Egypt’s CDC plan and we look forward to helping more companies in the healthcare, education and other consumer sectors,” said Leandro Cuccioli, Head of Health and Consumer Businesses, CDC.

Sir Geoffrey Adams, British Ambassador to Egypt, commented “A wonderful example of the strength of the UK-Egypt trade and investment relationship is CDC’s $100 million investment in Alfa Medical Group, CDC’s highest ever equity investment in Egypt. At a time of unparalleled difficulties, the agreement will promote healthcare in Egypt, improving access to medical services across Egypt for those in need.”

A new emergency loan guarantee facility of more than USD 30 million under the Open Doors African Private Healthcare Initiative is projected to support private and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) healthcare providers in five high malaria burden countries in Africa.

The loan will help healthcare providers in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda to continue to provide more than five million Africans critical health services, including malaria treatment.

“As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of our clients are under increased strain and see patient visits and sales falling. This partnership allows them to better encourage wellness entrepreneurs in order to continue delivering the necessary resources to keep their families safer,” Kennedy Okong’o, Director East Africa, and Medical Credit Fund stated.

The African Private Healthcare Open Doors Program will help keep doors open for an estimated 1,600 health facilities that provide treatment for malaria and other critical health services.

Nearly 50 percent of all healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa is provided by private sector healthcare providers, including life-saving interventions such as early malaria diagnosis and treatment, ante-natal care, and routine vaccines.

“These critical health needs could overload already overburdened health services if left unaddressed and add to the loss of life during the pandemic. For example, 2020 estimates suggest that mild disturbances in the search for care could result in as many as 100,000 additional malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa,” explained Okong’o.

The Health Financing Alliance, a consortium of leading philanthropists, businessmen, sponsors and technical partners, set up the facility to leverage major private funding to achieve a transformative impact on healthcare in Africa.

“We need innovative funding ways to help policymakers meet their optimistic health targets, with COVID-19 placing immense financial pressure on health budgets across Africa. The Open Doors African Private Healthcare Program, which funds private health services through a combination of grants and return-seeking money, is a leading example. I want to see initiatives like this one extended in the months ahead,” Ray Chambers, WHO Ambassador for Global Strategy and Health Financing and Chair, the MCJ Amelior Foundation said.

Nearly 3 million of the five million patients who may be affected by the loan facility are low-income patients, with nearly 2.4 million women and 1.4 million children at disproportionate risk of malaria and other infectious diseases.

“To safeguard health and well-being, private sector healthcare services are important. Financial funding from the African Private Healthcare Open Doors Initiative will enable them to support the response to COVID-19 and continue to deliver critical health services to keep people and communities safe,” Naveen Rao, Senior Vice President for Health, The Rockefeller Foundation said.

Malaria No More will run the lending facility and the loans will be managed by the Medical Credit Fund (MCF), a non-profit insurance investment fund.