The International Finance Corporation (IFC) launched the Africa Medical Equipment Facility (AMEF) program in partnership with financial institutions and medical equipment manufacturers. The goal is to support small and medium-sized healthcare providers in East and West Africa by enabling access to loans to purchase or lease quality medical equipment.
AMEF was launched in February 2022 and held its first training for participating healthcare SMEs in March. By facilitating financing and procurement, AMEF aims to improve the reliability and quality of private healthcare across Africa.IFC is focused on increasing awareness and engagement with regional stakeholders in the medical equipment industry to strengthen AMEF’s impact.
The Kenya Healthcare Federation in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently hosted a talk on health systems strengthening through strategic medical equipment procurement.
Key discussion points:
- Careful planning and budgeting needed for full lifecycle costs of medical equipment, not just initial purchase price
- Creative financing strategies to explore (pooled procurement, leasing models, public-private partnerships, manufacturer loans)
- Increased domestic health spending ultimately essential in many countries
- Leverage regional coordination and data to achieve economies of scale
- Engage manufacturers/suppliers in bundled contracts and buy-back agreements with procurement safeguards
- Take holistic view that also invests in health workers, infrastructure, supply chains
The key takeaway was that proper planning and financial management can make equipment procurement an opportunity to improve entire health systems and expand access to quality care.
Following this talk, the Africa Medical Equipment Facility will be holding a HSME training meeting in Eldoret on November 13th and 14th, 2023 to discuss further capacity building.
