IFC, others invest $66.8 million in Hygeia Nigeria

07 Jan 2016
Chibuike Oguh

Summary

Hygeia is currently expanding capacity at existing hospitals.

Mrs. Fola Laoye, Chairman, Hygeia Nigeria Limited

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has led a group of investors to make a $66.8 million (N13.3 billion) investment in Hygeia Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s leading private healthcare provider.

In a statement released on Thursday, IFC said the funding would help Hygeia, through its various healthcare services, reach over two million patients over a seven-year investment period.

The others investors are IFHA-II Coöperatief, a private equity fund that is focused on the healthcare sector in Sub-Saharan Africa; Swiss Re, a leading wholesale provider of reinsurance, insurance and other insurance-based forms of risk transfer; and CIEL Healthcare Africa Limited, a pan-African healthcare company.

“IFC is committed to financing integrated healthcare networks to help increase access to quality healthcare,” said Eme Essien Lore, IFC Country Manager for Nigeria. “More people will get better access to quality and cost effective healthcare in Nigeria.”

In 2009, the IFC led two investors, Satya Capital, an Africa-focused investment firm and FMO – Netherlands Development Finance Company – to invest $25 million in Hygeia as it sought to expand its operations across Nigeria.

Hygeia operates a network of two hospitals and three clinics under the Lagoon Hospitals brand and a health maintenance organization, Hygeia HMO. The company is currently expanding capacity at existing hospitals, including its management information system, and creating a new tertiary care hospital, the statement said.

“IFC and IFHA, our long-term partners, are working with us to achieve our aim of closing the gap of quality healthcare service delivery in Nigeria,” said Fola Laoye, Chairman of Hygeia Nigeria Limited.

“We are excited to bring on board reputable new partners like Swiss Re and Ciel Healthcare Africa. We thank the Satya Capital team for their support and commitment during a very important time of development for Hygeia.”

In addition to providing capital, the IFC-led consortium plans to broaden the technical expertise at Hygeia especially through the involvement of Ciel Healthcare Africa. Ciel works in association with Fortis, a leading integrated healthcare delivery service provider in India.

“IFHA-II believes that we have a strong consortium of partners in place to help realize growth at Hygeia,” said Max Coppoolse, the Managing Partner of IFHA-II. “Nigeria is a key market for IFHA-II and through our investment in Hygeia we will be able to expand access to quality healthcare across the country.”

Chibuike Oguh is Financial Nigeria's Frontier Markets Analyst







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