MOROCCOOP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I, the first Finnish global emerging markets impact fund, has invested US$10 million in equity in CIM Santé Group, a leading Moroccan private healthcare group.

Through this investment, OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I aims to foster the development of Morocco’s healthcare sector, accessibility to quality care, and support gender equality in the sector, the Finnish fund said in a press release.

Founded in 1994 by Professor Assad Chaara – a pioneer in developing cardiac catherization in the country, CIM Santé Group has a strong focus on cardiology.

With the funding provided by OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I and Vantage Capital, Africa’s leading mezzanine debt provider, CIM Santé Group plans to extend its flagship clinic in Marrakech and expand its operations to Casablanca to meet the increasing demand for healthcare services in the country.

Besides strengthening its position in the Moroccan market by adding more clinics to its portfolio, CIM Santé Group plans to enter new markets in the rest of Africa, the release added.

CIM Santé Group is also committed to fostering female empowerment in the sector. Currently, women represent almost 70% of the total workforce, and women are well represented both in senior and mid-level management. The group is looking to further develop its gender strategy and address barriers to women’s employment and career advancement.

This investment qualifies for the 2X Challenge, which is a global gender finance initiative seeking to support businesses that provide women in emerging economies with access to leadership opportunities, quality employment, and products and services that enhance their economic participation and inclusion. Finnfund has been a member of the 2X Challenge since 2019.

The OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund provides professional investors a mean to promote the achievement of the UN SDGs by investing in high-impact projects in developing markets.

The investment by OP Finnfund is almost similar to last years investment into the healthcare group by Vantage Capital.

In October, Vantage Capital, Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager, announced today that it has made a US$28 million equity investment to acquire a significant minority shareholding in the Cliniques Internationales du Maroc Group (“CIM Santé Group”).

Vantage’s funding was to enable the founding family to part-finance the extension of the existing clinic in Marrakech and the opening of new clinics in Tangier and Casablanca.

Thereafter, CIM Santé Group planned to further strengthen its position in the Moroccan market by adding more clinics to its portfolio as well as entering new markets in the rest of Africa.

CIM Santé Group is made up of the Heart and Vascular Diseases Clinic established in 1994 in Rabat (20 beds, 2 theatres); the International Clinic of Marrakech created in 2011 in Marrakech (100 beds, 5 theatres); and the International Clinic of Tangier, currently under development and expected to be fully operational in Q4 2020 (200beds, 10 theatres).

CIM Santé Group also owns or is in partnership with radiology centres, medical laboratories and laundry service companies in Marrakech and Tangier.

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