Lagos, Nigeria. October 17, 2014
– IFC a member of the World Bank Group, today announced an agreement with HealthPlus Limited and CasaBella International Limited to provide a $5million loan facility that will help the Companies expand pharmaceutical and personal care services in Nigeria. The project will support Nigeria’s drive for delivery of quality pharmaceutical and personal care products, create more jobs, and contribute towards the improvement of health and wellbeing in the Country.
Under the agreement, IFC will assist HealthPlus and CasaBella to establish a central distribution center in Lagos and expand their combined retail business network from 38 to 120 stores across Nigeria within the next 3 – 4 years.
Olubukunola (Bukky) George, Chief Executive Officer of HealthPlus Limited and CasaBella said, “At HealthPlus and CasaBella, our strongest drive is to help people achieve optimum health and vitality by providing quality pharmaceutical and personal care products. Partnering with IFC will help us expand our reach and will give us access to global industry best practices. With support from IFC and our other stakeholders, we will be able to achieve our vision of bringing quality health and wellbeing to more Nigerians.”
According to a World Bank health report, African health expenditure will keep growing rapidly, with the private sector playing a key role. The private sector will be the key player in the delivery of quality health and personal care services to the urban poor and rural dwellers.
German Vegarra, IFC Regional Industry Head said “As a partner to HealthPlus, IFC hopes to increase access to affordable quality health and personal care products, and foster industry best practices that will boost investor confidence in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical and personal care sector. By supporting HealthPlus and CasaBella, IFC is promoting a medium-sized enterprise that was founded by a woman entrepreneur and has become a household name in the country.
IFC supports the health sector to improve access to high quality healthcare services for people at lower and middle-income levels. By working with partners who are willing and able to bring best practices to health care and life sciences, IFC is promoting the growth of efficient and effective companies to generate an important public good in a sustainable way.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in about 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. In FY14, we provided more than $22 billion in financing to improve lives in developing countries and tackle the most urgent challenges of development. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
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