Boosting Health Care across the Middle East

IFC is supporting a new wave of private investment in hospitals and clinics across the Middle East. Part of a worldwide shift, this is helping relieve the burden on public health systems and has the potential to reshape the region's health care sector. Many of these investments are flowing from the richer Gulf Cooperation Council countries to their poorer neighbors—a phenomenon known as "South-South" investment that is also a priority for IFC.

In 2007 alone, IFC has invested $81.2 million in health care companies in the Middle East. We target countries that are embarking on reform programs for more private sector participation in health care, as well as companies that recognize the need to develop modern and efficient health care networks in low- and middle-income countries. Our investments are helping establish high-quality medical services, world-class clinical and patient care, and better access to health services, with a focus on the poorest people.

IFC’s Activities in Health Care

Since 2000, IFC has provided $536 million in financing to 47 private health care projects in 25 countries. The projects had a total value of $1.7 billion. IFC is the world’s largest multilateral investor in the private health care sector in emerging markets We have mobilized an additional $70 million from participating banks for health sector investments IFC-supported health care facilities employ over 25,000 people in developing countries and treated 4 million patients last year IFC sponsors events that introduce clients to an unrivaled network of contacts in the international health care arena

New Jobs and a Broader Reach

IFC has made four health care investments in the Middle East during 2007, all of which support South-South investors. A key example is IFC’s $25 million commitment to Saudi Arabia’s Andalusia Group for construction and expansion of hospitals in Egypt. Together, a new facility in Cairo and an expanded one in Alexandria will serve 200,000 more patients each year and create a thousand new jobs for medical professionals. The company will also establish a nursing school in Cairo to help address a severe shortage of trained nurses.

IFC will help improve the Andalusia Group’s environmental, social, insurance, and corporate governance standards and operating practices. IFC's investment will encourage Egyptian financial institutions to provide longer-term financing, otherwise not available to private hospitals. The Andalusia Group is the region's fastest-growing medical group, providing services to 430,000 patients a year. With IFC's help it aims to expand its market share to become one of the region's top health care providers.

Reaching the Poorest

IFC's $37 million in financing to Saudi German Hospitals supports a new 300-bed multi-specialty hospital in Sana'a, Yemen, that opened in June 2006, and a hospital of similar size being built in Cairo. In Yemen, one of the region's poorest countries, the new hospital is the only tertiary facility that meets international standards of patient care, customer service, governance, transparency, and IT systems.

SGH has been a health provider since 1988 in Saudi Arabia, where it owns and operates five hospitals. Across the region, its facilities total 1,600 beds and more than 5,000 staff. It is regarded as a premier health services provider with a strong brand and a wide range of community outreach initiatives. Its visiting professor programs bring practitioners and researchers from European universities to disseminate advanced medical knowledge in the region.

Promoting Best Practices

An IFC equity investment of 24 million Egyptian pounds ($4.2 million equivalent) is helping Egypt’s Dar Al Fouad Hospital expand and renovate the Arab International Hospital in central Cairo. This will raise the quality of service in a densely populated and poorly served area, where the need for health care is acute. The company will also set up health care centers in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. Dar Al Fouad is a model of best practice in Egypt’s medical community, with an extensive track record. It has struck a strategic alliance with the Cleveland Clinic, one of the leading cardiac care centers in the United States, to help ensure best clinical and administrative practices.

IFC's $15 million investment in Shefa Limited CEIC, a private equity fund based in the United Arab Emirates, is helping create the first regional health care network and increase access to high-quality care. Over the next four years, the Shefa Fund will invest in well-established and reputable hospitals as well as general health care companies across the region. It seeks to improve these companies' financial sustainability by promoting good corporate governance and introducing modern financial controls and technical best practices.

IFC is proud to be a part of this global shift of health care investment. As Guy Ellena, IFC Director for Health and Education, sums it, "IFC is very happy to work with strong local and regional sponsors to bring high-quality medical services to underserved countries."


For more information, please contact:

Ludi Joseph
Communications Officer
E-mail: ljoseph@ifc.org
Phone: 202-473-7700