Bank of Kigali and VIEBEG Medical Ltd have, on June 6, signed a partnership agreement that will allow private clinics and hospitals to acquire medical equipment and improve healthcare delivery in Rwanda. VIEBEG provides a one-stop platform for healthcare providers in Africa to procure medical equipment and supplies across countries. While Rwanda has invested efforts in improving the healthcare system, there remains a challenge of a lack of access to resources, equipment, a limited number of doctors and nurses, as well as access to consumable healthcare products. Diane Karusisi, CEO of the Bank of Kigali, said that this is an additional opportunity for the bank to be more relevant to its customers in the health sector, namely private clinics and hospitals to access advanced medical equipment and enhance healthcare in the country. “While the government does much in enhancing skills capacity for medical personnel and infrastructure, as the private sector we can also do our role through financing where there is a gap, and we all benefit at the end of the day.” “By leveraging VIEBEG’s advanced technology and expertise, we can provide vital financial solutions that directly address the needs of our healthcare providers.” Under this partnership, the bank will provide upfront financing of 80 per cent of the medical equipment value without collateral, and a repayment period of five years. “Our strategy is to become product specialists by looking at different segments in the economy and designing relevant products for each segment. We started with agribusiness, and we are now into healthcare.” Alex Rosen, Managing Director, VIEBEG Medical Ltd, said that this financing partnership seeks to ensure that preventable deaths due to lack of medical equipment and facilities are avoided. “We use data from the Ministry of Health and Rwanda Biomedical Centre to identify the demand for critical equipment and pharmaceuticals in Rwanda, especially areas where there are so many patients and a shortage of diagnostic equipment,” he explained. According to him, this has a ripple effect on the socioeconomic welfare of people given that with advanced equipment, clinics will enhance their efficiency and have an increased profit margin which can be turned into capital to finance other needs such as increased medical doctors or infrastructure facilities, hence, improving healthcare in communities. He said that most types of equipment are sourced from various places across the world with high efficiency and at affordable prices, noting that the company has skilled engineers who continuously train and monitor the use of the supplied medical equipment in clinics.
