Oshen Group Turns Around King Faisal Hospital

King Faisal Hospital- Rwanda

Barely a year of taking over management of Rwanda’s King Faisal hospital, Oshen Health Care Rwanda Ltd, a branch of Oshen Group, an Angolan firm is already getting credit for doing a good job.

“In Rwanda, for example, we have entered into an arrangement with an African company to manage our largest hospital. What is being done there is already showing success,” said President Paul Kagame at the Transform: Africa Business and Investment Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Tuesday.

In April 2016, Oshen Health Care Rwanda Ltd signed a €21 million investment deal with government of Rwanda to upgrade this referral Hospital to international standards.

Parties committed to a gradual handover until a time when the investor takes over management of the hospital completely. The takeover was completed in February 2017.

“We need Rwandans to trust us since this is the beginning of our journey here,” said Alexis Lifschtz the Vice President of Sphera Global Health Care who represented Oshens Group at the handover.

The president gave this example of a practical solution to health to explain how the private partnership is crucial in key sectors of Africans’ life, like health.

“We are also partnering with a private firm from the United States, Zipline, to pioneer the use of drone aircraft to deliver blood and other medical supplies to rural hospitals,” he said.

The president quoted a report from the International Finance Corporation a few years ago which he said, it found that the majority of health services consumed in Africa, are already supplied privately.

“This doesn’t mean we should privatize our healthcare systems, but rather find ways to improve quality and access to healthcare,” he said.

The president is of a view that things will happen more quickly if Africa’s business leaders keep advocating for Pan-African economic cooperation with policy-makers and the public, especially through the media.

The president reiterated his firm commitment to advance the Continental Free Trade Area and the free movement of people which, he said, AU hopes to conclude this year, as well as the Single African Air Transport Market that was inaugurated in the sideline of African Union general Assembly, on January 29^th.

The inaugural Transform: Africa Business and Investment Forum was organized by Economic Commission for Africa.

The president said it was a good initiative to draw business leaders into the conversation at the AU.

“This is long overdue and I trust that it will be a regular feature of our Summits and of continental initiatives more generally,” he said.