Egypt’s SWF, Concord sign MoU to create healthcare fund with $300 mln in first phase

Egypt’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and the American Concord International Investment Group have inked on Wednesday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a joint firm to moderate a fund specialised in healthcare mainly in Egypt, the Middle East, and Africa.

According to a statement, the fund’s first phase worth $300 million targets maximising the assets on the long run through making use of foreign direct investment (FDI) opportunities, in addition to attracting FDI flows and creating joint investment opportunities in other mega projects.

The new fund aims to create a diversified healthcare platform benefiting from Egypt’s increasing population, and creating healthcare entities appropriated for exporting healthcare services to Europe, Middle East countries and Africa, besides maximising the promising firms value in the sector and untapped assets.

Minister of Planning and Economic Development and Chairman of the fund Hala El-Said said that investing in healthcare is one of Egypt’s priorities in the time being amid the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, Egyptians’ health is key to Egypt’s Vision 2030 for Sustainable Development, she said.

She clarified that the new healthcare fund also aims at increasing the private sector’s participation in the Egyptian economy in accordance with Egypt’s Vision 2030 that put the private sector as an essential partner in Egypt’s development progress.

The Executive Manager of Egypt’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Ayman Soliman said that Egypt’s fund plays an important role in attracting new investments to tap into the state’s assets, in addition to modernising and expanding healthcare services amid the current COVID-19 crisis and its increasingly harsh impacts on the global economy.

“Thus, we have to be ready and we must create solutions that help alleviate the pressure on healthcare systems in the region and the world because of the COVID-19 outbreak,” Soliman added.

Meanwhile, Chairman and Founder at Concord Group Mohamed Saleh Younes said that there is an increasing demand on the healthcare industry, which includes drug producers, recognising service providers, which is witnessing high annual growth.

He added that the new fund will receive the promising investments either from the government or from the private sector to create diversified investments in the healthcare sector to maximise its value over the investment period.

“There are significant opportunities for expanding in this kind of business in the Middle East and Africa markets, using the developing resources in Egypt that provide a unique opportunity for the new fund,” according to Younes.