As part of the company’s Series A capital round, West African private equity fund manager CardinalStone Capital Advisers (CCA) has announced a $6 million investment in Nigeria’s healthtech firm AfyA Care.
In Nigeria, AfyA Treatment offers integrated healthcare services, such as hospital care, health insurance, and medical device services. The investment exemplifies CCA’s goal of supporting high-potential growth companies that may both have a good impact on communities and provide investors with long-term, attractive returns.
According to an EY report, Nigeria’s healthcare system is severely underdeveloped, with a patient-to-bed ratio of 2,000:1 as opposed to the peer average of 1,000:1 and a low health insurance penetration of 5%. Over the next five years, AfyA Care is well-positioned to take advantage of these market prospects by first solidifying the Lagos market before expanding to important cities in Nigeria and West Africa. In order to transform healthcare delivery in Nigeria and beyond, the firm will use the funds to strengthen its skilled talent pool, expand its hospital brands, scale its Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and develop its health tech solutions.
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Femi Ogunjimi, a Partner CardinalStone Capital Advisers, said, “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 the 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.”
The Need for AfyA Care
AfyA Care was established in 2019 with a mission to improve access to and the cost of healthcare in Nigeria. AfyA Care is developing vertically integrated healthcare institutions and optimising delivery models that serve its target market segments by aggregating hospital capacity and demand. It targets low-mid and mid-high-end hospitals, health insurance, and health tech businesses. To cater to its low-to-mid market customers, the company maintains a network of 215 beds under the R-Jolad Hospital name. To serve the mid-high-end market, it is also building a 140-bed hospital under the proposed Oakwood Medical Centre brand.
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Tosin Runsewe, CEO of AfyA Care, comments on the new collaboration with CCA, “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.”
The fourth investment by CCA from its $64 million CCA Growth Fund (CCAGF), which focuses on growth-stage SMEs in Nigeria and Ghana, was made in AfyA Care. Its portfolio also includes the businesses i-Fitness, Appzone, and Quality Foods Africa.
