UAE – Financial services firm Alkhair Capital Dubai has set up a new US$100 million Islamic fund to enhance the digital capabilities and utility of technology in the fast-growing healthcare sector in the United Arab Emirates.
As a part of the investment, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) holds the overall responsibility for the management of the new healthcare-focused fund.
The Alkhair Capital Healthcare Sector Fund will target businesses leveraging cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) to bolster healthcare providers in the UAE.
Alkhair Capital established the new fund to support hospitals and other healthcare facilities in the processing of medical claims payments.
Based in DIFC, Alkhair Capital provides tailor-made, Shari’ah-compliant investment strategies in asset management, advisory services, and private equity.
In an official company statement, Naveed Aurakzai, Chief Executive Officer of Alkhair Capital, said: “We launched Alkhair Capital Healthcare Sector Fund with the primary aim of streamlining medical claim submission and payment processing within the health sector.”
As a part of the investment, the Alkhair Capital Healthcare Sector Fund will deploy investments that shall be strategically allocated to healthcare innovators across short to medium-term durations.
This strategic allocation is expected to strike a balance between fulfilling the Fund’s liquidity requirements and achieving favourable returns.
Moreover, the investment fund is anticipated to fortify the foundations of the UAE’s health system by addressing the delays faced by care providers in the processing of medical claims payments.
Commenting on the cost of processing medical claims, Naveed Aurakzai outlined: “Healthcare facilities encounter a delay of 112 days on average to receive 90% of their payments from insurance companies.”
The launch of the Alkhair Capital Healthcare Sector Fund comes as the UAE’s healthcare sector incurs up to US$1.2 billion in medical claims caught in processing.
The healthcare sector is experiencing remarkable growth, propelled by the region’s expanding senior citizen population, rising life expectancy, and a surge in lifestyle diseases.
This rapid transformation has led to significant challenges, including insufficient infrastructure, higher medical claim settlements, and liquidity constraints due to extended working capital cycles.
In turn, Alkhair Capital has formed the new Islamic healthcare liquidity fund to provide enhanced financial support for enterprises to compensate for liquidity challenges and prolonged working capital cycles.
In his address, Naveed Aurakzai stated: “With Alkhair Capital Healthcare Sector Fund, we seek to address one of the most formidable challenges within the sector, estimated to encompass US$100 billion spending within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).”
Consequently, the Alkhair Capital Healthcare Sector Fund will play a key role in mitigating key factors that hinder the profitability and expansion of medical facilities in the UAE.
The Alkhair Capital Healthcare Sector Fund is well-positioned to attract investors by facilitating access to the rapidly expanding healthcare sector of the region.
For this reason, the Alkhair Capital Healthcare Sector Fund aims to achieve an annual return of between 6% to 12%
The Islamic healthcare liquidity fund presents investors with an investment structure characterized by low volatility and income generation.
Through this venture, Alkhair Capital has tied up with fintech company Klaim Technologies, which specialises in AI-powered solutions for assessing insurance claims, to meet the objectives of the new fund.
On his part, Karim Dakki, Chief Executive Officer of Klaim, said: “Our partnership with Alkhair Healthcare Sector Fund marks a significant step toward resolving the pressing liquidity challenges in the healthcare sector.”
It is worth highlighting that KLAIM has launched an electronic service to purchase medical claims and pay them in cash within seven days.
As part of the new investment, Alkhair Capital will award KLAIM with fresh funds worth up to US$50 million to serve additional healthcare providers across the Middle East and North Africa.
This joint effort is in alignment with the fintech company’s overarching mission to bring transformative technological solutions to the healthcare sector in the MENA region and beyond.
“Leveraging our AI-driven insurance claims assessment technology, we aim to optimise and accelerate the claims process thus facilitating prompt payments to medical facilities,” added Karim Dakki.
For all the latest healthcare industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, and YouTube Channel, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook.
