Jim Baiden, MD of Fidelity Bank
Fidelity Bank, in its quest to improve and expand quality healthcare delivery in the country, has made available a $50 million fund to support players in the industry in collaboration with Medical Credit Fund (MCF), a subsidiary of PharmAccess Group.
Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Jim Baiden, who spoke at the launch of the bank’s newest healthcare product – MediLoan – Monday in Accra, said healthcare delivery was crucial to the development of a country and any society.
“The MediLoan product has the potential to drive growth and improve healthcare delivery by availing SMEs who operate in this sector with the needed funding to deliver quality healthcare in Ghana.”
According to him, collaboration between Fidelity Bank and the Medical Credit Fund (MCF) was to make healthcare funding a possible one which hitherto was not the case in the past.
Mr Baiden said the bank would provide the needed investment with funding to support players across the healthcare value chain which will include diagnostic centres, manufactures, distributors and retailers of pharmaceutical products in the country where clinics and hospitals can access for expansion.
He entreated the private sector to take advantage of the product to continue to expand its role in Ghana’s path of achieving universal health coverage through the funding from the bank.
Arjan Poel, Managing Director of MCF, said his outfit was happy to release $50 million to support the private sector to ensure quality and expanded coverage for healthcare delivery in Ghana through the collaboration with Fidelity.
The MCF is dedicated to providing technical assistance to SMEs in the health sector, including training institutions that train health workers.
MediLoan, he said, could be accessed to procure medical equipment, laboratory equipment, expand infrastructure and purchase vehicles for ambulance services.
“We have a lot of funds at our outfit and aside the $50 million, we can bring more depending on how fast the current one is accessed and utilized.”
By Emmanuel Kubi