Date: 13 May 2025
Location: Gaborone, Botswana
Overview
Africa Lighthouse Capital, a Botswana-based private equity firm, has concluded an agreement to acquire a 76% equity stake in Medlane Holdings, the operator of Botswana’s leading day hospital, Medlane Day Hospital. This investment will support a strategic expansion to improve access to high-quality, affordable primary healthcare in Botswana and reduce reliance on outbound medical travel.
The transaction is subject to approval by the Competition and Consumer Authority.
About Africa Lighthouse Capital
- Founded by: Bame Pule
- Headquarters: Gaborone, Botswana
- Mandate: To invest in and grow high-potential companies in Botswana and Africa.
- Approach: Long-term partnership with entrepreneurs, providing both capital and strategic value creation.
- Focus Sectors: Consumer, financial services, healthcare, education, and others.
- Investment Style: Majority or minority equity stakes with active support for growth.
About Medlane Holdings
- Founded by: Warren Lane and Dr. Tyler Lane
- Based in: Gaborone, Botswana
- Breadth of Payers: private sector medical aid schemes and public sector (Ministry of Health).
- Core Services: Day hospital procedures—primarily ophthalmic surgeries (e.g., corneal transplants, retinal surgeries).
- Unique Value: Localisation of specialist procedures to reduce costs and dependency on international referrals. Centres of excellence in high-impact specialisations.
- Growth Vision: To expand into new specialties, preventative care, occupational health, and pharmacy services.
Strategic Rationale for the Investment
- Reduce medical tourism: Many Batswana currently travel abroad for procedures that can be localised. Reducing medical tourism will retain healthcare spending within Botswana, contributing to economic growth.
- Enhance access: New facilities will improve geographic access beyond Gaborone.
- Build capacity: Doubling of theatre capacity and expanding therapeutic services into new centres of excellence.
- Empowerment: Establish Medlane as a citizen-owned national champion in a sector dominated by international operators.
- Preventative health focus: Launch of wellness and occupational health services to reduce long-term healthcare costs.
Strategic Goals
- Expand services to underserved areas.
- Add new specialisations in primary and surgical care.
- Launch preventative and occupational health programs.
- Develop in-house pharmacies to improve medication access.
- Partner with medical aid schemes and government to strengthen local healthcare ecosystem.
Anticipated Impact
- Improved care through centres of excellence in new areas of specialisation.
- Improved healthcare access and outcomes across Botswana.
- Lower healthcare costs through localisation.
- Job creation in clinical and support services.
- Increased private sector capacity to support national health goals.
- Increased local skills through skill transfer from international to local
surgeons.
Media Q&A
Q: Why did Africa Lighthouse Capital choose to invest in Medlane Holdings?
A: Medlane Holdings is a proven innovator in localised healthcare with a strong clinical reputation. Our investment reflects confidence in its founders and a shared vision to expand access to high-quality care to more Batswana.
Q: Why is healthcare an attractive sector for investment?
A: Africa Lighthouse Capital believes that human capital development, through investment in the healthcare and education sectors, is the most urgent need for catalysing Botswana’s economic growth and positioning its economy for competitiveness. We have looked at a number of investment opportunities in the healthcare and education sectors and expect to make investments in both sectors in the future.
Q: What changes will patients see in the short term?
A: Patients can expect greater access to specialised procedures locally, reduced waiting times, greater convenience, and the introduction of preventative and occupational health services.
Q: Will Medlane Holdings remain under local management?
A: Yes. The founders will continue to manage the business and lead the next phase of growth with Africa Lighthouse Capital’s support.
Q: Is this part of a larger strategy in the healthcare sector?
A: Yes. ALC is committed to backing impactful, scalable solutions in healthcare that serve citizens, reduce systemic costs, and create lasting value.
Q: Will this investment create new jobs?
A: Yes. The expansion of facilities and services is expected to create clinical, administrative, and support roles.
Q: How does this investment fit into the country’s economic realities?
A: This investment is in furtherance of the private sector playing a greater role in Botswana’s economic development. With the government’s current fiscal constraints, private investors and companies like Africa Lighthouse Capital and Medlane can invest in facilities and skills to drive continuing improvements in healthcare outcomes. Government can manage cost and quality by entering into Public-Private Partnerships with private hospital companies like Medlane.
Q: What would the implementation of National Health Insurance mean for Medlane?
A: The implementation of a National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme will require close collaboration among all players in the healthcare value chain, including government and private healthcare providers like Medlane. Medlane can provide greater access and capacity for non-overnight surgeries than there is available capacity in public hospitals and Medlane can be incorporated into the NHI program, enabling insured individuals to access its services. In this way, private hospitals like Medlane are essential partners to government in providing universal health coverage.
Q: How will the investment affect affordability for patients?
A: The localisation of procedures will reduce costs for patients and medical aid schemes by avoiding international referrals. Over time, increased efficiency and scale will help maintain affordability.
Q: What is Africa Lighthouse Capital’s exit strategy?
A: ALC is a long-term growth investor that typically exits when a business is on a sustainable growth path. In the case of Medlane, we are committed to building a citizen-owned national healthcare leader before considering an exit.
Q: Are there plans to expand regionally outside Botswana?
A: While our immediate focus is on expanding within Botswana, we believe Medlane’s model could be applied regionally in future phases.