Peshawar, Pakistan, November 22, 2022 — IFC is financing the expansion of two hospitals in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province through a project that will help improve access to high-quality healthcare services, especially for low-income patients.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa suffers from a severe shortage of doctors and hospital beds, and has 0.3 doctors per 1,000 people, less than a third of the national average. The province's 0.6 hospital beds per 1,000 people is in line with the Pakistan average but just one-fifth of World Health Organization recommendations. Significant investment is needed to reduce this uneven distribution and overall shortage of healthcare.
IFC will invest up to $11 million in Alliance Healthcare, a private provider of medical care based in Peshawar, the province's largest city. IFC's investment is supported by a co-investment from the blended finance facility of the International Development Association's Private Sector Window. The investment will help Alliance expand its Northwest Teaching Hospital, adding 200 beds and 50 outpatient rooms. These beds will be earmarked for low-income social insurance patients and will be not-for-profit. The funding will also support the Northwest General Hospital as it adds 50 beds and expands diagnostic services, including radiology. In addition, Alliance will construct an eight-story dormitory for medical students studying at the Northwest Teaching Hospital.
The investment builds on IFC's advisory work over the last two years, helping the company monitor and improve the quality of its care, strengthen its corporate planning, and improve its internal processes and corporate governance. As a result, detailed plans for the expansion of both the Northwest Teaching Hospital and the Northwest General Hospital were developed, which IFC is now funding through this new investment – the first external investment in Alliance Healthcare from an institutional investor.
"All too often, low-income patients cannot access quality medical care in Peshawar and the surrounding areas," said Dr Tariq Khan, the Chairman of Alliance Healthcare. "Changing that with IFC's support is crucial to supporting this region's development in an inclusive way."
Following IFC's advice, Alliance is also now in the process of getting a JCI accreditation, the global accreditation standard for medical services, and is also considering a potential listing on the Pakistan Stock Exchange in the next few years.
"Private healthcare providers have a critical role to play in expanding access to good-quality healthcare services in Pakistan, especially to those who need it the most and cannot always afford it, especially during challenging economic times," said Zeeshan Sheikh, IFC Country Manager for Pakistan and Afghanistan. "Helping mobilize greater private capital and expertise to enable better healthcare services provision for all is a key priority for IFC in the country."
Earlier this year, IFC also partnered with the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to support expansion of private medical facilities through a landmark public-private partnership (PPP) project aimed at helping meet the surging demand for healthcare in the province. These initiatives come on the heels of a $400 million World Bank-sponsored project to strengthen the province's healthcare system.
Since 1956, IFC has committed $10 billion in Pakistan and its current portfolio stands at around $1.5 billion.
About IFC
IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2022, IFC committed a record $32.8 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of global compounding crises. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
About the IDA Private Sector Window
The International Development Association's (IDA) Private Sector Window was launched in 2017 to catalyze private sector investment in the poorest and most fragile countries. Recognizing the key role of the private sector in achieving IDA's objectives and the World Bank Group's twin goals, the window provides a source of co-investment funding and guarantees to de-risk private investments supported by IFC and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The IDA PSW is an option when there is no commercial solution, and the World Bank Group's other tools and approaches are insufficient. For more information, visit: http://ida.worldbank.org/psw
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