The Shefa Healthcare Fund, Injazat Capital’s USD 100 million Shari’a compliant venture fund, plans to embark on major investments in countries across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), giving a much-needed boost to the region’s promising healthcare services sector.
Mohammad Al Salman, Principal - Placement, Injazat Capital said: “The Injazat Shefa Fund will identify deserving healthcare providers and ancillary services for investment out of the USD 100 million capital fund at its disposal. This will ensure that the MENA region gets its due share of the projected growth in the global healthcare industry. The Fund will invest in developing industry dominant groups to provide world-class healthcare services that are within the reach of the regional populace.”
The healthcare industry is billed to become a major driver of the global economy over the next decade, having generated almost USD 200 billion in worldwide sales during 2004. Rapid demographic changes coupled with governmental initiatives to attract world-class healthcare providers and medical research facilities, have given a fresh impetus to strengthening and upgrading of the region’s healthcare infrastructure and services.
The United States alone accounted for approximately 40 per cent of the worldwide sales in 2004, with products less than two years old being responsible for 30 per cent of the total sales. Such a scenario offers much scope for start-up ventures to launch new products or conduct research into unexplored areas of medicine and healthcare services.
The MENA region’s total expenditure in the healthcare sector however accounts for less than six per cent of the combined GPD. Moreover, nearly half of this expenditure comes from the private sector. This falls well below the world average, underlining the lack of investment the region’s healthcare segment has hitherto suffered from.
Addressing this situation, the Shefa Healthcare Fund recently inked a deal with Australia’s premier healthcare network, the Victorian Healthcare Association, to establish the region’s first joint venture private healthcare management company in the UAE, which will integrate and manage the Fund’s portfolio of healthcare facilities.
Shefa Healthcare Fund is managed by Injazat Capital, which is one of the region’s leading and experienced private investment and advisory firms, operating in compliance with Shari'a principles and specialising in management buyouts, private equity, venture capital and leveraged debt. Injazat Capital also manages the Technology Fund, a USD 50 million venture capital fund targeting technology, media and communications companies in the MENA region.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
