Few people get excited talking about blood tests, but for Nancy Fahmy, her dual passion for blood draws and delivering attractive returns for a leading Egyptian consumer healthcare company, is infectious. During a recent Prosper Africa institutional investor delegation visit to Cairo, Egypt, Ms. Fahmy, investor relations director for Cairo-based Integrated Diagnostics Holdings (IDH), introduced investors to Mega Lab, Egypt’s largest automated lab and one of the region’s key providers of diagnostic services.
IDH has developed an innovative “hub, spoke, and spike” network of branch laboratories to penetrate all levels of the Egyptian market. During the site visit, U.S. investors gained insight into the investment and growth opportunities at IDH and broadly in Egypt’s healthcare market. Investors toured the Mega Lab, or hub of IDH’s testing, where they run more than 30 million tests per year for 10 million patients. IDH offers more than 2,000 diagnostic tests and has built a reputation as a trusted, accessible partner in healthcare.
The African continent makes up 16 percent of the world’s population and carries 23 percent of the global disease burden, yet it accounts for only 1 percent of total global health expenditures. Egypt presents a particularly attractive untapped market for healthcare, especially within diagnostics. The average number of diagnostic tests per person in Egypt is 2.5 per year compared to 10.1 in Saudi Arabia and 23.2 in the United States.
Healthcare markets are developing rapidly across the continent. The continued urbanization of Africa’s growing population is reducing the costs to reach patients and improving business scale, and companies like IDH with operations in Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, and Nigeria, are capitalizing on the opportunity and attracting investors.
Prosper Africa’s “Investment and Trade Landscape and Opportunities in African Healthcare” landscape report revealed that the continent’s attractive healthcare market is presenting increased opportunities for investors across asset classes.
Actis, a global investment firm focused on the private equity, energy, infrastructure, and real estate asset classes, has supported IDH since 2014.
“We have been very happy with the growth and development journey the business has been on over the past 10 years,” says Sherif ElKholy, IDH Head of the Middle East & North Africa. “IDH plays a leading role in Egypt’s medical sector and we are very proud to be partners in such a strategically important and high quality business.”
“We have more than 40 years of experience in Egypt and used that knowledge to build trusted brands in Sudan and Nigeria,” says Ms. Fahmy. “For those looking to invest in Africa, IDH pays the highest annual dividends in Egypt and offers a business model with the potential for significant growth as we increase access to quality healthcare services across the continent.”
“The untapped potential for healthcare investment in Africa is significant,” says Cameron Khosrowshahi, Prosper Africa Senior Investment Advisor. Prosper Africa is the U.S. government’s initiative to increase trade and investment between the United States and African countries.
“Prosper Africa leverages moments like the recent delegation trip to Cairo to present U.S. investors with an array of African investment opportunities,” said Khosrowshahi. “IDH’s innovative business model is just one example of how African companies can drive impact on the continent and offer healthy returns for U.S. investors.”
Prosper Africa, in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and MiDA Advisors through the USAID Africa Trade and Investment (ATI) program, will organize future investor delegation trips in 2023 to Botswana, South Africa, and Morocco.
For more information on Prosper Africa, please visit www.prosperafrica.gov.