A Danish development finance institution, Impact Fund Denmark, has invested 65 million Danish Krone (Sh1.31 billion) in a Kenyan medical equipment and supplies firm to set up a new factory.
The fund said, in a statement on its website, that it has made the investment in Crown Healthcare —a firm founded in 1998 and operates across the medical supply chain, including sourcing of medical equipment and supplies.
The fund did not say whether the investment is in the form of debt or equity. This marks the latest investment for the Danish fund in Kenya.
The fund’s other investments in Kenya include last year’s 63.55 million Danish Krone (DKK) or an equivalent of Sh1.28 billion loan to MyDawa —a digital health start-up.
In 2023, the fund also loaned Nithio FI —a climate fintech firm— 74.66 million DKK (Sh1.55 billion). This came after a 2008 deal in which it bought 50.96 million DKK (Sh1.03 billion) shares in Rabai Power that supplies electricity to Kenya Power.
In addition, the fund also invested 34.55 million DKK (Sh695.58 million) in a food systems firm, African Coffee Roasters, in the form of shares and loan. The deal was closed in 2015.
The Danish fund said the completion of Crown Healthcare’s new factory will help the company produce medicines locally and on a large scale, according to the fund.
“The new factory will strengthen Kenya and the wider region’s supply chain by anchoring production locally and increasing the number of quality products produced. In this way, quality medicine becomes much more accessible,” said the fund.
Some of the Crown Healthcare’s products include pharmaceutical refrigerators, transport ventilators, electric dialysis chairs, operating lights, laboratory consumables and basic medical equipment like stethoscopes and blood pressure machines.
The fund added that the new factory will help reduce Kenya’s dependence on imported medical suppliers, which are vulnerable to counterfeits, global supply chain disruptions and rising international logistics costs.
“With this investment, we are helping to improve the availability of essential medicines and make the region more resilient to global crises,” said Lisbeth Erlands, managing director and co-head of healthcare.
Information on its website shows Impact Fund Denmark has completed more than 60 investments in East Africa across sectors including manufacturing, infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, textiles and tourism.
