DIANI BEACH, Kenya July 13 – Proparco, France’s development finance institution, and Ascent Rift Valley Fund II, a leading East African private equity fund have announced the acquisition of a majority equity stake in Diani Beach Hospital Limited located in South Coast.
The investment is made under the FISEA+ initiative, a high-impact investment facility dedicated to supporting MSMEs in Africa owned by Proparco’s parent company, the French Development Agency (“AFD”).
Founded as a 10-bed private hospital in 1997, Diani Beach Hospital is today the largest private healthcare facility in Kwale Country, with more than 120 beds across four sites.
In a statement, the DBH’s founder, Kawaljeet Singh Rekhi said the facility will work together with Ascent Capital and Proparco to grow and strengthen the business – thereby expanding healthcare provision and improving the quality of care in an underserved part of Kenya.
This will benefit an estimated 600,000 inpatients and outpatients over the next five years.
The investment will cement DBH’s role as a key local employer, with women, in particular, constituting 50 percent of employment and leadership roles. As such, DBH qualifies for the 2X Challenge, a global gender finance initiative.
Kawaljeet Singh Rekhi, the founder and CEO of Diani Beach Hospital said the two entities will leverage their unequivocal local and international expertise in the healthcare space in order to enhance and accelerate our ambitious growth strategy over the short- and medium-term.
“ We look forward to strengthening the Diani Beach Hospital brand as we continue to expand, affording access to world-class healthcare to an ever-increasing number of people to whom we look to serve.”
“The area where DBH operates is still largely underserved and we are excited about the growth potential that this represents. Healthcare is a core sector for Proparco and the investment also meets FISEA+’s mandate of supporting SMEs, particularly in rural areas,” Damien Braud, Head of Equity for Africa and the Middle East at Proparco commented
