Helium Credit is Financing Africa’s Private Clinics, One Loan at a Time

Tzar Oluigbo (Lead writer)

Across Nigeria, many privately-owned healthcare facilities face funding bottleneck. Pharmacies watch their shelves empty as they struggle to restock essential drugs. Laboratories, unable to afford new equipment needed for diagnoses, and clinics are forced to turn patients away, as they face financial constraints that limit the services they can provide.

For banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions that typically lend to small and medium-sized businesses, private clinics are often seen as high-risk. Irregular cash flows, high operating costs, limited collateral to capital, leaving them unable to expand or even sustain their services.
This has contributed to Nigeria’s estimated $82 billion healthcare financing gap , a shortfall that weakens systems, erodes that quality of care, and leaves patients carrying catastrophic costs.

One such clinic is Yanga Dental, which struggled to expand its services due to limited access to funding until a loan from Helium Credit loan opened up new possibilities. Dr. Ebuka Anyaeji, the CEO, explained oral health remains one of the most neglected areas of healthcare, with few clinics, a shortage of dentists, and low public awareness. “The core reason for Yanga is access and awareness. You cannot want to improve access without affordability, else you’re not going to achieve your goal,” he said.

For the dental clinic, a ₦25 million (approximately $16,000) loan from Helium Credit proved transformative. The funding enabled them to move into a purpose-built facility, purchase advanced laboratory equipment, and begin producing aligners and crowns locally.

What began four years ago in Bode Thomas, a neighbourhood in Lagos, Nigeria, with a single dental chair has now grown into a fully equipped facility with advanced machines and a digital lab that now serves over 10,000 patients and partners with clinics.

“We started with one chair but now our lab produces aligners, crowns, and dentures in-house. We have been able to bring down the cost of aligners from four million to six million Naira [the cost abroad] to under 1.5 million Naira locally,” Anyaeji explained proudly.

“Our revenue [also] tripled, and today we even supply other clinics. More importantly, our patients can now access quality services at lower costs.”

Financing the future of healthcare in Africa

Helium Health’s first product was not financing but HeliumOS, its electronic medical records (EMR) system. After years of building EMR systems in hospitals across Africa, the team noticed a critical pattern, financial exclusion was stifling the growth of private healthcare facilities, even hindering them from adopting digital solutions.

In 2020, Helium Health secured $30 million in funding, which paved the way for the launch of Helium Credit. The initiative was designed to provide loans that enable healthcare providers to revamp their businesses while digitising operations, making it easier to track and measure performance effectively.
Helium Credit was also developed as part of the Financing and Operational Revitalisation for Maternal Care ( FOR M(om) initiative to provide facility loans to healthcare providers such as hospitals, pharmacies, clinics, laboratories, and diagnostic centres.

“Our niche is very specific. We bring financing where it’s hardest to get from traditional banking,” explained Aisha Ajidagba, the Lead, Credit Operations.

According to Gbolahan Olagbaju who is the Head of Business, “based on our fintech solutions and what we understand, we are able to deliver loans within 48–72 hours, which commercial banks are unable to do.” Helium Credit’s unique edge lies in providing fast, flexible credit in areas where traditional banks will not.

Unlike banks that treat clinics like any other small business, Helium Credit tailors financing to the realities of healthcare, assessing cashflow patterns, patient demand, and service mix to assess creditworthiness.

“For us, due diligence goes beyond bank statements. We run detailed KYC [Know Your Customer] checks on both the business and its directors, analyse sales records, patient inflows, and, where possible, draw from EMR data. If the provider is already using the Helium OS, we can see their financials and patient flow in real time,” Aisha said, adding “We also calculate an affordability ratio, ensuring that loan repayments fit within a provider’s actual cash flow without crippling their operations. It’s not just about asking for ₦100 million. We ask, ‘can the business comfortably repay it while still paying staff, restocking drugs, and keeping the lights on?’”

Tailored loans for healthcare realities

Since its launch, Helium Credit has disbursed over $10.9 million to over 460 healthcare facilities across 22 states in Nigeria and Kenya. The loans have supported a wide range of needs, from working capital for pharmacies to restock essential medicines, to asset financing for diagnostic equipment, and to funding for facility expansion.

Yanga Dental currently operates on an infrastructure-as-a-service model. Its clinics clinics not only serve patients directly but also provide spaces for independent dentists to consult with their patients, creating a hybrid of service delivery and shared infrastructure. This approach lowers barriers to entry for dental practitioners and increases access points for patients.

“[Providing] healthcare is profitable, but it doesn’t work without funding. Helium Credit gave us the push we needed. Believe me, the disbursement was done in less than a week from the first conversation. This is what every healthcare business needs,” Anyaeji, said.

Switching to repayment plans

Helium Credit is deliberate about preventing fund diversion and ensuring timely repayment. Their system sends automated reminders (seven days, three days, and on the due date), followed by personal calls from account officers.

When repayment challenges arise, loans can be restructured by switching from lump sums to weekly or daily payments, or by extending the tenure to ease the burden. This proactive approach is designed to keep healthcare facilities liquid without crippling their operations.

“We are very proactive when it comes to managing repayments. From reminders to restructuring options, our goal is to make repayment realistic for facilities while keeping them financially stable,” Gbolahan said.

“Our collection and recovery practices are 100% ethical. We don’t use all these name and shame methods. Thorough analysis, thorough underwriting before disbursement to identify all possible risks and mitigate those risks,” he further reiterated.

Healthcare funding barriers in Nigeria

Scaling health financing depends on securing large pools of affordable capital, yet many healthcare providers still lack financial literacy. To bridge this gap, Helium hosts quarterly Conversation and Community forums, where providers share experiences and receive guidance on loan management and financial planning.

Closing the healthcare financing gap will take more than private sector innovation, it calls for a whole-of-system effort. Scaling up requires government and regulators to introduce targeted incentives such as credit guarantees, interest buy-downs, and tax relief for health-focused lenders.

The Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN) has been at the forefront of advocating for these reforms, with a clear message: unlocking sustainable financing for private clinics is not just about keeping providers afloat, it is about safeguarding access to care for millions of Nigerians. Stronger public–private partnerships are equally vital to tackling the ₦66 billion daily financing gap that weakens care across Africa.