March.23.2012
A transactional team is continuing its support of long-standing social sector client Calvert Foundation (“CF”), which is working to underwrite the Medical Credit Fund, an Amsterdam based fund that is providing debt capital to health clinics in Sub Saharan Africa (“SSA”). SSA accounts for 11% of the world’s population, bears 24% of the global disease burden, 44% of the world’s communicable diseases, and commands less than 1% of the global health expenditure. The primary objective of the fund is to enable low-income people in SSA to access affordable quality healthcare services. Unfortunately, individuals in SSA are to a large extent dependent on low quality, expensive private healthcare. This fund has several lenders including CF, OPIC and the Soros Economic Development Fund. The fund is working with both local banks and local technical assistance partners to select, underwrite and administer these loans to private health clinics. Medical Credit Fund has raised a combination of grant dollars and investment capital which will be deployed through local banking partners in a stepwise risk sharing arrangement. This system will allow a private health clinic in Ghana that does not currently have any bank relationship to complete a business plan, identify capital needs, apply for a loan of $3,000, repay that loan in 6 months and graduate to a large size loan with the local bank. On these initial loans (a maximum of $3000), Medical Credit Fund will provide 100% of the capital (via the local bank) and gradually begin to risk share with the local bank as the borrower develops a track record. Regarding the specific health clinics, they will be identified through MCF’s technical assistance partners on the ground (Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria). The team consists of New York managing energy and infrastructure associate Zahra Egal, San Francisco energy and infrastructure associate Kelly Giddens and San Francisco energy and infrastructure partner Tom Glascock.