By Ijeoma UKAZU
EHA Impact Ventures has announced its collaboration with Stanbic IBTC to de-risk a $300,000 loan to EHA Clinics, a world-class primary healthcare provider in Nigeria.
Stanbic IBTC’s loan will fund EHA Clinics’ expansion to two new locations, Lekki, Lagos, and Lugbe, Abuja.
With the loan, the clinics will be outfitted with high-quality medical equipment to provide quality care to EHA Clinics’ customers. To facilitate the loan, EHA Impact Ventures, the majority shareholder of EHA Clinics, provided Letters of Credit to Stanbic IBTC to secure the loan.
According to the Chief Executive Officer, of EHA Impact Ventures, Evelyn Castle, “Improving access to quality healthcare in Nigeria is one of EHA Impact Ventures’ major goals.
“To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, trillions of dollars of investment are needed. Philanthropy and impact investors alone are not going to be enough. Partnerships with progressive banks like Stanbic IBTC to develop and implement these innovative financial solutions will get us closer to closing the SDG funding gap.”
Castle said that unlike many healthcare companies in Nigeria, EHA Clinics is focused on providing affordable care packages to people at all levels of the economy, noting that their innovative community-based program, REACH, provides quality, evidence-based care and affordable medication to low-income urban populations.
Additionally, the CEO said, they have developed an innovative technology backbone that allows for seamless integration between clinic facilities and their “HealthMate” app, providing customers direct access to EHA Clinics’ services, resources, and support.
Castle revealed that the new facilities in Abuja and Lagos are estimated to provide quality care to an additional 60,000 people annually.
Commenting, the CEO of EHA Clinics, Adam Thompson said, “We are grateful for the partnership between EHA Impact Ventures and Stanbic IBTC, which facilitated this loan opportunity. In addition to the financial support, EHA Clinics is now able to build our credit history with the bank, which will allow for easier loan facilitation in the future.”
Speaking on the strategic partnership with EHA Impact Ventures, Jane Ike-Okoli, Head of Specialised Sectors, Stanbic IBTC Bank noted, “The bank’s support is in line with our commitment to drive positive change and improve access to healthcare finance.
“As a growth partner, it is collaborations like these that allow us to demonstrate our support for the healthcare businesses in Nigeria by delivering flexible, innovative solutions through our strategic partnerships while fostering affordable quality healthcare service,” she stated.
Babatunde Akindele, Head, of Commercial Clients Coverage, Stanbic IBTC Bank, also stated that “healthcare is a basic need that everyone should access easily.
“Stanbic IBTC is willing to support strategic partnerships such as this to improve healthcare infrastructure and enable qualitative service delivery, which will restore the hope of many Nigerians.”