As countries have shut down sectors of their economies and asked citizens to remain at home to slow the spread of COVID-19, all health providers have seen a decrease in demand for services. For private health care providers, this also means decreased revenues, putting them at risk of closing during a time when access to care is already a challenge.
The Skoll Foundation is excited to be part of a new emergency loan guarantee facility makes more than USD$30 million available to private, small- and medium enterprise (SME) health providers in five high malaria burden African countries. The loans will support health care providers in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda to continue offering essential health services, including malaria treatments, to more than five million Africans. The facility was created by the Health Finance Coalition, a group of leading philanthropies, investors, donors and technical partners focused on mobilizing significant private investment to achieve transformative health care impact in Africa.
Private sector health care providers deliver nearly 50 percent of all health care in sub-Saharan Africa, including life-saving interventions such as early malaria diagnosis and treatment, ante-natal care and routine vaccinations. If left unaddressed, these vital health needs could overwhelm already overburdened health systems and add to the loss of life during the pandemic. Projections in 2020, for example, estimated that moderate disruptions in treatment seeking could lead to as many as 100,000 additional malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.
“This facility is one of the first solutions of its kind to address the twin health and economic crises facing the private health sector in Africa due to COVID-19. We hope it will spark a broader response using creative finance solutions to save lives from malaria and address Africa’s most urgent health needs.”
—Martin Edlund, CEO, Malaria No More
The Open Doors African Private Health Initiative is one of the first initiatives to address the economic crunch that the private health sector in Africa is facing due to COVID-19. A catalytic $700,000 investment by the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) enables a $17.7 million loan guarantee from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and $1.5 million in funding from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Skoll Foundation, and the MCJ Amelior Foundation. Together, this effort unlocks more than $30 million in loans to SME health providers. Additional support comes from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Center for Innovation and Impact (CII).
“With COVID-19 putting tremendous financial pressure on health budgets across Africa, we need creative financing solutions to help governments achieve their ambitious health goals. The Open Doors African Private Health Initiative, which supports private health providers through a blend of grants and return-seeking capital, is a leading example. I hope to see strategies such as this one scaled up in the months to come.”
—Ray Chambers, WHO Ambassador for Global Strategy and Health Financing and Chair, the MCJ Amelior Foundation
Of the five million patients that the loan facility could impact, almost 3 million are low-income patients, and approximately 2.4 million are women and 1.4 million are children, who are disproportionately at risk of malaria and other infectious diseases. The facility will be managed by Malaria No More and loans will be administered through the Medical Credit Fund (MCF), a non-profit health investment fund. Loans are expected to average $17,000 per provider to help stabilize operations, buy essential medical equipment including personal protective equipment, and finance small-scale construction to protect patients from COVID-19 infection. MCF’s partner organization SafeCare, in collaboration with PMI, will provide training materials to facilities on how to continue providing routine services safely during the pandemic.
For more information or to apply for a loan visit: www.medicalcreditfund.org
The Health Finance Coalition (HFC) was launched by a group of leading philanthropies, investors, donors, technical partners convened by WHO Ambassador for Global Strategy and Health Financing Ray Chambers and hosted by Malaria No More. The HFC seeks to attract an unprecedented level of private-sector investment to impact millions of lives and accelerate progress to ensure health lives and promote well-being for all, a UN Sustainable Development Goal 3. The coalition uses public and philanthropic funding to encourage private-sector capital investment in transformative healthcare impact in Sub-Saharan Africa. HFC Steering Group members include: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; The Rockefeller Foundation; The World Bank; The World Health Organization; Royal Philips; and Blue Like an Orange Sustainable Capital.
Malaria No More
The Medical Credit Fund
The Rockefeller Foundation
The Skoll Foundation
MCJ Amelior Foundation
U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
USAID Center for Innovation & Impact (CII)
U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative
