Medical Credit Fund (MCF), Africa’s only debt facility dedicated to the healthcare sector has raised €32.5 million for its second MCF II fund, to support health entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa and will use these funds to focus on healthcare services such as malaria prevention and treatment, maternal and childcare, according to media reports. This funding round also caters to expanding the ‘cash advance’ feature, a fully digital loan product that has grown exponentially in the last two years.
The funding round was participated by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and provided the first €7.5 million equity investment this January. This amount will go towards the Covid-19 expenditure. Additionally, the funding round also saw participation and funding from CDC Group €10 million, FMO €7.5 million, Swedfund €5 million, and Philips €2.5 million.
The fund will further benefit from a guarantee facility provided by the US International Development Finance Corporation and it is initiated by the Health Finance Coalition. MCF will also support U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative and USAID’s Center for Innovation & Impact. The fund uses catalytic capital that comes from both public and private sources. It is also targeting €80 million in growth in the coming years.
Arjan Poels, Managing Director of MCF told the media, “I am very grateful for the support we received from our investors, especially the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The funds will help to bridge the financing gap for small and medium-sized health businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to finance construction work, purchase equipment, and prevent medicine stock-outs. Mitigating the chronic underfunding of the sector means more patients can receive better healthcare.”