Transform Health Fund completes final financing round to enhance healthcare access in Africa

Transform Health Fund completes final financing round to enhance healthcare access in Africa

The fund will help in addressing Africa's healthcare sector funding gap, supporting the broader healthcare ecosystem, and enabling better care for more people.

Oct 04, 2024 | 2 minute read

AfricInvest and The Health Finance Coalition (HFC) are proud to have completed the final round of financing for the Transform Health Fund (THF), of which Philips has been one of the main driving forces [1]. This fund is aimed at bridging the financing gap for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the healthcare sector in Africa. Thanks to this milestone, the fund can expand the financing it is providing to help scale high-impact health enterprises serving underserved communities, which it started doing after reaching the fund's first close in May 2023.

With its focus on improving access, affordability, resilience, and quality of healthcare in Africa, THF's objectives closely align with Philips' vision of providing better care for more people. To this end, THF will be investing in supply chain transformation, innovative care delivery, and digital innovation, three areas that all serve low-income patients. For instance, they may support a clinic that provides healthcare services to people with a lower income or in more remote areas, as well as healthcare providers that offer telehealth services via mobile phones, or companies addressing supply chain challenges, with a specific focus on ensuring better access to care in underserved communities.

- Marnix van Ginneken, Philips' Chief ESG & Legal Officer

"Delivering high quality and affordable care to underserved communities has been the main focus since we shaped this fund," said Marnix van Ginneken, Philips' Chief ESG & Legal Officer. "The Transform Health Fund has already benefitted many patients through early investment, and we look forward to its continued positive impact."

Inspiring corporate peers to help bridge the health financing gap

Africa is facing an enormous financing gap in healthcare. The vast continent is home to 16% of the world's population, shoulders almost a quarter (23%) of the world's disease burden, but only 1% of global health spending is spent in Africa [2], with small and medium enterprises generally being left out.

"I am delighted to see how Philips played a catalytic role in bringing this group of impact investors together and establish this blended-finance vehicle to help address the funding gap of early scale-ups in the healthcare space," said Annette Jung, Impact Finance Lead at Philips. "I invite others - and especially other corporates - to consider the role they can take in mobilizing more funding into this space."

The fund was announced in Washington, DC on December 14, 2022 as part of the US-Africa Leader Summit. It brings together commercial, government, and donor investments under the management of AfricInvest, a leading pan-African investment platform active across private equity, venture capital and private debt, and the Health Finance Coalition, a group of leading global health funders hosted by Malaria No More.

For more information about the Transform Health Fund, its activities, and its supporters, and to become an investor, visit the website of AfricInvest or The Health Finance Coalition.

Sources

[1] In addition to Philips, Transform Health Fund's group of investors includes Merck & Co., Inc. (known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada), the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Swedfund, FSD Africa Investments, Grand Challenges Canada (with funding from Global Affairs Canada), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Netri Foundation, Anesvad Foundation, Chemonics International, and MCJ Amelior Foundation.
[2] Home - Health Finance Coalition

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