Key Takeaways

  • Strategic Healthcare Partnership: Atterbury has partnered with South African-based Lenmed Group to establish a private hospital at their Pemba Shopping centre, addressing urgent medical needs created by the massive ExxonMobil and Total oil and gas project in northern Mozambique.
  • Comprehensive Medical Facility: The new 993-square-meter hospital will offer specialized services including in-patient wards, laboratory, pharmacy, haemodialysis, radiology, 24-hour assistance, and emergency helicopter evacuations.
  • Regional Impact: Pemba Shopping is the largest mall in Cabo Delgado province and serves as a central hub for the area, making it an ideal location for expanded healthcare services.
  • Target Market: The facility primarily serves foreign workers on LNG projects who need higher-quality medical care than the limited provincial state hospital can provide, while also being accessible to local residents.
  • Development Timeline: The hospital was scheduled to open in mid-2021, utilizing a facility that was already constructed during the shopping center’s earlier development phase, with a temporary COVID-19 testing laboratory already operational.

ExxonMobil and Total’s massive oil and gas project in the north of Mozambique has seen a significant development in recent years. This has included Atterbury’s first project in this neighbouring country, the modern and convenient Pemba Shopping centre, which opened in 2017. A new deal has now been signed with private hospital chain the Lenmed Group, for phase two of the project. We got the background from Pemba centre manager Rui dos Santos.

How has the shopping centre impacted on the surrounding community since opening?
Pemba Shopping has provided convenient and highly accessible shopping to a very large area in Pemba and the surrounding districts. It is the biggest mall in the Cabo Delgado province in the northern part of Mozambique and is unique here as it offers a wide array of stores and facilities, including Shoprite, OK, Pep, Vodacom, a Standard Bank ATM, a coffee shop, Intermoda Fashion and other fashion stores as well as a new Total filling station. There is also an office component.

What has been happening on the site since it opened? Has the global pandemic impacted progress and prospects – what have been the specific challenges?
The country has certainly had its unique challenges in the last few years since operations started on the multibillion-dollar Mozambique liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. There were two cyclones during 2019, from which it has been slowly recovering; there has also been some instability, and yes the pandemic, which has slowed down business as well as development. Fortunately, a new hotel recently opened on the main road on the well-known Wimbi Beach near the mall, and now the Lenmed Group will also expand the medical services that are available in the area.

Tell us more about the deal – does Lenmed have a presence in Mozambique or is this a first for them?
Lenmed is based in South Africa, but they are also active in Mozambique. Their first venture was with Hospital Privado Maputo in the capital city, and they are currently expanding their services into the north of the country; hence the Pemba deal. The new private hospital will be established alongside Pemba Shopping in a facility that was already constructed in the earlier phase, which will now be finished.

Is this Atterbury and Lenmed’s first collaboration? How did the partnership come about?
It is indeed. The influx of people working on the LNG projects necessitated new medical facilities in the north of the country, and of course now the pandemic has added to this pressure. The partnership between Atterbury and Lenmed flowed from introductions I was able to do, since I had been involved with the inauguration of the Lenmed hospital in Maputo several years ago. The Pemba development was the perfect site for the expansion of facilities that Lenmed was interested in.

How big will the development be in terms of area, and how extensive will the private hospital be in terms of what it offers?
The hospital will be 993sqm in area, with wards for in-patients, a laboratory and a specialised pharmacy; and it will offer specialised treatment, including haemodialysis and radiology. There will be 24-hour assistance, consultations with qualified doctors and it will also offer emergency evacuations via a helicopter based in Pemba.

What other medical facilities are available to people living in the greater Pemba area? What have they done up until now for medical care?
There is a provincial state hospital, but the conditions and facilities are limited, so for the foreign workers on the LNG projects a more elaborate medical facility has been an urgent requirement. Lenmed Private Hospital will provide that private care. Local inhabitants will naturally also have access to the doctors for consultations and referrals.

What are the projected timelines for the project to kick off, and for the clinic to open?
At present there is already a temporary laboratory on the site to provide Covid-19 testing for the oil and gas projects in Cabo Delgado. The hospital itself is scheduled to open mid 2021.