IFC recently announced an investment in Kenyan healthcare provider Avenue Group Limited, which will help the company expand its healthcare offering and increase patient reach by 20% across the country over the next five years.
Avenue will use the $12.7 million loan from IFC to develop new healthcare facilities and upgrade existing hospitals and clinics in order to expand its primary care footprint and improve its secondary and tertiary offerings.
Avenue currently serves over 430,000 patients per year and is part of the Evercare Group, an integrated healthcare delivery platform in African and South Asian emerging markets such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, and Nigeria.
Avenue’s expansion strategy includes establishing a radiology department at its Kisumu hospital, installing state-of-the-art operating theater equipment at its Kisumu and Thika hospitals, adding a new wing to its Parklands hospital, and constructing five new clinics across Kenya to meet growing demand for healthcare services.
The investment reflects the IFC’s strategy of assisting private healthcare providers in Africa in meeting the rising demand for quality healthcare and assisting governments in expanding health services to all segments of the population.
Kenya’s private health services market is the second most established in Sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa, but supply gaps persist as demand for more services grows. Furthermore, it is predicted that noncommunicable disease deaths in Kenya will increase by 55% by 2030, implying an increased demand for specialist chronic disease management and services.
“IFC’s investment in Avenue is a testament to the quality of care across our network and the multiple growth opportunities we have in front of us. Avenue and IFC have a shared commitment to creating greater access to high quality healthcare in Kenya and driving continuous improvement in our facilities, technology, and delivery of services across the healthcare continuum. We look forward to working together with IFC to expand our network and enhance our offering,” said Imran Osman, CEO of Avenue Group.
“IFC’s role in the healthcare sector is to complement government efforts to leverage the private sector to help meet the growing demand for quality healthcare. Our investment in Avenue will increase the availability of healthcare at state-of-the-art facilities across Kenya, enabling more people to get the primary and advanced care they need,” said Amena Arif, IFC Country Manager for Kenya.
Avenue will additionally benefit from IFC’s advisory services, such as the Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) certification program, in order to improve resource efficiency at its facilities. IFC will also help Avenue strengthen environmental and social standards across several of its operations, as well as establish a dedicated E&S team, building on Evercare’s ESG initiatives over the last two years.
The thirteen existing Avenue clinics and the five new ones will be connected to the group’s three secondary and tertiary hospitals in Kenya. This will make it easy for doctors to send patients to more advanced medical care if they need it across its platform.
Evercare is wholly owned by the Evercare Health Fund, a $1 billion U.S. emerging markets healthcare fund managed by TPG and backed by TPG Rise, its global impact investing platform. Avenue Group Limited’s business model is centered on providing high-quality healthcare at a lower cost than other private care providers. This is accomplished by connecting its clinics to its hospital network.
IFC investments and advisory services promote best practices in healthcare and life sciences, the deployment of innovative technologies, and the advancement of quality care.
