Kenyan medical oxygen producer Hewatele has secured $20 million (Sh2.8 billion) from multiple financiers to set up a production plant at the Tatu City special economic zone.
Tatu City said in a post on X that investment backers include the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Finnish development financier Finnfund, Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF), UBS Optimus Foundation and Grand Challenges Canada.
The statement further said the facility will be launched before the end of March next year at a time demand for medical oxygen is rising in East Africa. “The sustainable oxygen plant, set to launch in Q1 2025, will cater for rising medical oxygen demand in East Africa, supporting maternal and child healthcare, saving lives, and reducing costs by up to 30 percent,” wrote the SEZ in the post.
A group of doctors founded Hewatele in Kenya in 2013 led by Bernard Olayo and has for the past four years been headed by Zulfiqar Wali as chief executive officer.
The firm manufactures and distributes medical oxygen through six operational Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plants in Kenya and Uganda.
Johanna Raehalme, Finnfund’s head of origination in Africa noted that the investment will help plug oxygen supply gaps and lower cost.
“We are happy to add yet another important investment in our healthcare portfolio and see that the increased awareness of oxygen will ensure market demand for Hewatele going forward,” said Raehalme.
According to Kenya’s Ministry of Health, the demand for medical oxygen has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic from 410 tonnes to 880 per month. This has raised the costs for the product, further compounded by high production budgets, fragmented delivery, and storage options that have seen the price rise to between eight and 10 times what it is in in Europe and North America.
Hewatele targets that the new facility will boost production by at least 20 tonnes per day.
