FORBES: Nov 7, 2017: Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais, a Swiss-Angolan entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of Quantum Global Group, an international investment firm with a focus on Africa.
The company manages a $400 million healthcare fund which is a long-term direct equity investor into a diversified portfolio of healthcare assets. Quantum Global is currently planning to set up a chain of small primary care clinics made from shipping containers across Africa.
In his recent interview by Forbes, he talked about the state of primary healthcare in Africa and what his company is doing to deliver better solutions in this space. In his words “healthcare in most of Sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the worst in the world. Despite decades of foreign assistance, few countries in the region are able to spend the $34–$40 per person per year, which the World Health Organization (WHO) considers to be the minimum necessary to provide a population with basic healthcare”.
The grim situation in health is the result of a crisis in healthcare investments in the continent; with only one per cent of the world’s health expenditure being used in sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that $25–$30 billion in new investments will be needed in health care assets only, to meet the growing healthcare demands of Sub-Saharan Africa. But which aspects of healthcare should private investors be looking at if they want to make a real impact on healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa in the near-term?
“Individuals without access to primary healthcare have little or no chance of early diagnosis and treatment of more complex ailments such as diabetes and cancer. There is the issue of shortages of doctors and nurses in most Sub-Saharan African countries; this problem is even more acute in rural and remote areas. WHO recommends a minimum of two physicians per 10,000 population; 29 of the 46 sub-Saharan countries are below this level.”
“A massive roll out of “brick and mortar” primary care clinics in an attempt to increase coverage would be challenging from a funding perspective and indeed may not be economically viable, especially in remote areas. The traditional healthcare delivery models involving in-person visits to a primary care health facility, staffed by doctors and nurses are severely constrained in delivering the desired results.”
“Mobile or moveable health facilities (“mobile clinics”) are a great way to reach to a population that has no access to basic health services. Such initiatives can also serve as a cost-effective way of delivering primary healthcare services in general. We are already witnessing a rise in the demand for mobile clinics globally. In recent years, a few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have deployed mobile clinics as part of the primary healthcare system.”
“My organisation, Quantum Global Group, manages a $400 million healthcare fund which is a long-term direct equity investor into a diversified portfolio of healthcare assets. In Angola for example, Quantum Global’s healthcare fund is planning to set up small primary care clinics made from converted shipping containers. This brings a plethora of advantages around cost, timing and flexibility. In particular, they can be deployed more quickly than building a conventional clinic and they can be moved to a new site if operations at the old site proves unviable or priorities shift.
The container clinics can also double as a hub location for operations of a telemedicine system. An added advantage of mobile clinics is that they can be a source of supply of unadulterated drugs (drugs not spoiled or made weaker by the addition of other substances); to rural communities. The approach being adopted by Quantum Global’s healthcare fund in Angola, will form an economically viable and scalable model which will then be replicated in other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa – all the while considering the particularities of each individual African country.”
Forbes