By An all-female digital healthcare firm, has received a funding injection to help it expand its telemedicine services across Africa.
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and MobiHealthCare Limited (MobiHealth) have signed a project preparatory facility agreement to expand their presence in Nigeria.
The financial injection would also enable Mobihealth to investigate the viability of developing similar services in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and Côte d’Ivoire.
As a unique digital health startup, Mobihealth’s platform employs local and diaspora medical professionals that can diagnose and prescribe for patients remotely.
According to the agreement, Afreximbank will contribute to project preparatory operations that will expand MobiHealth’s effectively integrated telemedicine proprietary platform, which was initially piloted in Nigeria, to four additional nations.
This effort is expected to lead to the construction of a network of telemedicine clinics throughout Africa, complete with outpatient facilities.
The project preparation facility of up to US$ 1.5 million is projected to move the project closer to bankability, with the long-term goal of unlocking further investments totaling $65 million.
AIF’s Senior Director, Chinelo Anohu, summed up what the deal means for African women empowerment and the delivery of quality healthcare in rural areas.
“This is a ground-breaking achievement for a female-led startup given the challenges they are known to face, especially when it comes to access to financing, and we are very excited to have supported Mobihealth on this funding with Afreximbank, one of AIF’s founding partners.
“Mobihealth’s innovative mobile health solutions are a game changer for a continent where so few are able to access healthcare and will therefore make a huge difference in Nigeria and the wider African continent, particularly for the 70 per cent that live in rural areas and have little or no access to basic healthcare,” said Anohu.
Afreximbank Vice President also lauded the partnership with Mobihealth as transformative.
“This initiative will fundamentally reshape the delivery of healthcare services with broader implications for healthcare services across the continent. We will not only be embracing digital technology but also harnessing the same to help our member countries accelerate their progress towards the attainment of universal healthcare coverage and improve equitable access to quality, affordable healthcare,” she said.
Mobihealth CEO, Dr Funmi Adewara welcomed Afreximbank’s support as a vote of confidence in their business model.
“The signing of this facility agreement marks yet another significant milestone in MobiHealth’s quest to proffer digital healthcare solutions across the continent. We are thrilled to have the support of Afreximbank, a pan-African multilateral financial institution with the scale and capacity to enable us to achieve this objective in a timely manner,” she said.
