West African private equity fund manager, CardinalStone Capital Advisers (CCA), has announced a $6 million investment in AfyA Care as part of the company’s Series A capital raise. AfyA Care is a healthcare group providing integrated healthcare services including hospital care, health insurance and health technology services in Nigeria. The investment reflects CCA’s strategy of backing high-potential growth businesses with the ability to positively impact communities, and to deliver sustained attractive returns to investors.
The healthcare market in Nigeria is grossly underserved with a patient to bed ratio of 2,000:1 compared to peer average of 1,000:1, and a low health insurance penetration below 5%, according to an EY report. AfyA Care is positioned to exploit these market opportunities by first consolidating the Lagos market and then expanding to key cities in Nigeria and West Africa over the next five years. The company will use the funding to improve its experienced talent bench, grow its hospital brands, scale its Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) and proprietary health tech solutions to transform healthcare delivery in Nigeria and beyond.
Commenting on the investment, Femi Ogunjimi, Partner, CardinalStone Capital Advisers, says: “We are always keen to partner with companies that have proven the capacity to disrupt and transform industries. Given the significant gaps in healthcare provision in Nigeria as well as sub-Saharan Africa more broadly, it was important to collaborate with people who deeply understand the industry, the urgency and scale of the problem, and are well-equipped to put in the work to deliver the results. We look forward to supporting the team at AfyA Care as they seek to build a healthcare ecosystem for diverse segments of the market and are excited to see where AfyA Care goes in five years.”
Founded in 2019, AfyA Care invests in healthcare assets in Nigeria, with a vision to make healthcare more accessible and affordable. Targeting low-mid and mid-high-end hospitals, health insurance and health tech companies, AfyA Care is building vertically integrated healthcare institutions and optimising delivery models that serve its target market segments through the aggregation of hospital capacity and demand. The company has a portfolio of hospitals with 215 beds under the R-Jolad Hospital brand to serve its low-to-mid market consumers. It is also developing a 140-bed hospital under its proposed Oakwood Medical Centre brand to cater to the mid-high-end market.
Speaking on the new partnership with CCA, Tosin Runsewe, CEO of AfyA Care, says, “We are delighted to announce our partnership with CardinalStone Capital Advisers. CCA has been instrumental, not only in securing the funding to build capacity, but also in lending their expertise to execute the vision for AfyA Care. Our plans for expansion are supported by decades of expertise across industries, and we are excited to be working with a firm that supports our vision to transform the future of healthcare in Nigeria and beyond.”
Other brands currently under AfyA Care’s management include health providers like EROM Diagnostics, Octosoft (health-tech) and Bastion HMO (health insurance).
This investment in AfyA Care is the fourth by CCA from its $64 million CCA Growth Fund (CCAGF), which targets growth-stage SMEs in Nigeria and Ghana. Other companies in its portfolio include i-Fitness, Appzone and Quality Foods Africa.