Nigeria’s Helium Health launches health tech in Kenya

Helium Health, West Africa’s leading provider of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Hospital Management Information (HMI) Systems, has announced the debut of its entire array of products and services in Kenya for the first time.

Helium Health, in collaboration with three local providers, Philips Healthcare Technologies, Carepay, and Savannah Informatics, will integrate new services, including an EMR, to serve the whole East African market.

“We’ve been preparing to enter Kenya’s burgeoning health tech industry since last year, so we’re really thrilled to be getting started in 2021, already collaborating with three new local partners to assist increase efficiency and deliver better patient care. We feel there is a significant opportunity to use cutting-edge technology to enhance the way healthcare data is collected and managed across Africa, therefore collaborating with like-minded healthcare providers and institutions in Kenya is a good fit for us,” said Tito Ovia, co-founder of Helium Health.

“We are convinced that we can play a big role in aiding both Kenya’s public and commercial healthcare sectors,” said Jean Kyula, Country Manager for Helium Health Kenya and formerly a National Health Service (NHS) doctor in the UK. “We’re ecstatic to announce that we’ve opened for business in Nairobi, where we’re already cooperating with three new partners and expanding into Uganda and Liberia. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical role of technology in healthcare, as well as the need to continue developing better systems, more remote access solutions, and improving efficiencies in our healthcare sector, so we look forward to working with more partners, doctors, hospitals, and clinics as we move forward,” she added.

Helium Health successfully concluded a US$10 million Series A investment round in May 2020 (the highest fundraise of any SaaS healthcare company in Africa) to scale and grow the business in both existing and new countries, increasing its reach across East, North, and Francophone West Africa. Helium Health has previously worked with clinics in Uganda and Liberia, enrolling 90-plus users in early 2021, and is now expanding its services to Nairobi.

Helium Health provides a comprehensive array of solutions that span the whole healthcare value chain, from electronic medical records (EMR) and hospital management information (HMI) systems to credit and telemedicine. Helium Health’s technology is currently used by over 300 healthcare providers and 5,000 health professionals in Nigeria, Senegal, and Ghana, allowing healthcare facilities to easily accept payments and issue invoices, access quick funding, and hold televisits with their patients, making it easier for patients to get diagnosed from the comfort of their own homes.

Helium Health was awarded the IFC IT Emerge award in 2020, which connects creative health tech entrepreneurs with premier healthcare providers in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda to launch pilot initiatives and form long-term relationships. Helium Health’s technology will be tested in the East African market.

Afreximbank launches AMCE project in Nigeria

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) announced the start of its African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) project in Abuja, Nigeria.

It will deliver world-class care to patients of all socioeconomic backgrounds across the continent.

The Bank recently formalised its long-term partnership with King’s College Hospital, London (KCH) on the project by signing an agreement naming KCH as the AMCE’s Clinical Partner.

The Abuja AMCE’s construction is set to commence in the fourth quarter of 2021, with completion slated for the first quarter of 2024. The African Medical Centre of Excellence will be built in four phases over the course of six years, beginning with a 170-bed specialised hospital and eventually extending to a 500-bed institution.

Following a competitive bidding procedure in which Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania all participated, Nigeria was chosen as the host nation for the first AMCE in 2017. A pre-feasibility study commissioned by Afreximbank and completed by KCH in 2015 identified the four nations as potential host countries.

“The establishment of the African Medical Centre of Excellence marks a turning point in the continent’s history. We are happy to be concretizing our goals through this project, which was designed as part of Afreximbank’s 5th Strategic Plan,” said Professor Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank.

“With general care capabilities that will service the whole West African area and beyond, the Abuja AMCE will address the growing burden of communicable and noncommunicable illnesses. It is a pilot project that will inspire similar medical facilities across the continent.”

The AMCE intends to provide a comprehensive spectrum of medical services, including diagnostics, therapy, nuclear medicine, surgery, and post-surgical care, as well as complementary specialised services in oncology, haematological illnesses (including sickle cell and blood malignancies), and cardiovascular maladies.

“We are thankful for the considerable assistance from the Nigerian government and are delighted to have King’s College Hospital as our partners. We are excited to benefit from their world-class experience in medicine, medical research, and training,” Professor Oramah said.

The Abuja AMCE will not only improve access to healthcare for 50,000 people per year, but it would also create 3,000 employment throughout its development and operation.

As a result of the AMCE’s establishment, Afreximbank hopes to contribute to the provision of high-quality healthcare, expanded service offerings, training, increased employment, the preservation of foreign exchange in Africa, and the development of intra-African medical tourism.

Sir Hugh Taylor, Chair of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, stated, “We have a long tradition of delivering specialised healthcare locally, nationally, and globally at King’s. We are pleased to be expanding our clinical knowledge in services such as haematology and cardiology to assist the people of Nigeria and Africa more broadly.”

Africa sees a $1.3 billion increase in healthcare investments

Africa’s healthcare faces many problems, ranging from inadequate infrastructure to a shortage of funding, but technology is changing healthcare delivery in the continent.

It is critical that Africa’s rapidly expanding young population, which is expected to be the world’s largest workforce by 2040, has access to high-quality healthcare in order to reap the rewards of this generational dividend.

For prospective buyers, these challenges offer a plethora of business opportunities. In Africa, the private sector is becoming increasingly significant in funding healthcare.

The healthcare sector in Sub-Saharan Africa has grown significantly in the last two decades, according to an AVCA survey. Between 2015 and 2020, 97 private equity (PE) and venture capitalist (VC) investments totaling US$1.3 billion were made in Africa’s healthcare sector.

Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, and Ghana are the top five countries in terms of the number of PE and VC fund contributions in healthcare in Africa between 2015 and 2020. Deals in the healthcare market accounted for 8% of overall transaction value in 2019 and 2020, demonstrating investors’ continuing commitment to closing the continent’s healthcare gap.

In 2020, Africa’s share of total reported deal value rose to 16% of total reported deal value, up from 3% in 2019. The overall amount of final closed PE & VC funds in Africa between 2015 and 2020 was US$18.1 billion. Half of this came from funds with healthcare as a focused industry in their investment mandate.

Nearly half of all healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa is provided by the private sector, and nearly 60% of the continent’s healthcare funding is provided by private sources.

When asked why healthcare investment is growing in Africa, Ugo Iwuchukwu, Brands and contact manager at Helium Health, said, “The situation with the latest investments into African healthcare is a melting pot of a lot of things.” For starters, it was unavoidable. Healthcare is an industry that concerns everybody, and it lags behind contemporary sectors like banking and even telecommunications in terms of technological advancement. Consider how you can make almost any trade online, but you can not do any healthcare operation online. As a result, it has always been a position where value could be added by all stakeholders.

“Second, the pandemic unintentionally shone a spotlight on the state of global healthcare, demonstrating what people like Helium have been saying: there is a lot of work to be done to develop not only Nigeria, but the whole global healthcare sector. As a result, what was already simmering prior to the pandemic gains traction.”

As more players come on board and technology is gradually being used to solve numerous healthcare issues around the continent, digital technology is becoming more prevalent in Africa’s healthcare market.

While investment in the healthtech sector is still in its infancy relative to other sectors such as fintech, the race has obviously started, and it will only be a matter of time before we see the fintech sector’s progress mirrored in healthcare across Africa.

AU, J&J Sign Deal for 400 Million Doses of Covid-19 Vaccines

Johnson & Johnson, an American pharmaceutical company, has announced that it will begin supplying the African Union (AU) with 400 million doses of its single-shot Covid-19 vaccine in the third quarter.

According to a related announcement, all African Union member states will have access to 220 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-shot Covid-19 vaccine through the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), which was formed in November 2020.

According to a joint statement released by the African Union, the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), and the Africa Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP), an extra 180 million doses may be requested.

Africa CDC Director, Dr. John Nkengasong, said: “The Africa CDC proposed to the African Union that a minimum of 750 million Africans (60 percent) be immunized if Covid-19 is to be contained. This exchange helps Africa to reach approximately half of the goal. The main feature of this vaccine is that it is a single-dose vaccine, making it easy to roll out rapidly and safely, saving lives.”

President of South Africa, AU Champion for the Covid-19 vaccine plan and purchase, and Chairman of AVATT, Cyril Ramaphosa, accepted the landmark deal, which he initiated jointly with the corporation during his term as AU Chairperson.

“This agreement is a big step toward ensuring the health of all Africans. It is also a strong example of African unity and what we can do by collaboration between the public, private, and foreign sectors that prioritize citizens,” Ramaphosa said.

The vast majority of supplies will be manufactured at Aspen Pharma’s massive pharmaceutical processing facility in South Africa.

Afreximbank President Benedict Oramah stated, “We are extremely honored to have been offered the chance by the African Union to promote this significant transaction under the auspices of the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task(AVATT) Team in the middle of a very tight Covid-19 vaccine market.”

“We look forward to beginning the implementation of the US$2 billion Vaccine Procurement facility approved by the Bank’s Board of Directors to assist the continent in beginning to rid itself of the pandemic and restore its economy as Financial and Transaction Consultants, Guarantors, Installment Payment Facility Arrangers, and Payment Officers.”

Oramah stated that the money would help intra-African trade and that “we have already begun engagement with our financial partners” to obtain additional funding to support procurement if Africa agrees to purchase the additional 180 million doses.

AU countries were invited to place pre-orders for the vaccines prior to the signing of the deal, and “many countries expressed strong preference for this particular vaccine. The majority of countries have already finished their pre-orders,” reads the statement.