why cant equity just keep doing banking which they do very well.this other gambling all over with share holder funds is unnecessary distraction.

MaichBlack is actually right, infact I think this is one of the best ideas equity has come up with.

First for those who understand Healthcare and Banking they'll agree on two things.

1. Retail Banking is not a money making business line so there is a need to diversify.

2. Healthcare is the most promising industry in the world right now.

The challanges faced by Kenya in dealing with healthcare are the same challanges faced by other countries including USA

a) Access
b) Payment modes/methods

Equity can actually profit significantly be solving access of care problem in the country. The scale, network and capital alone can enable them to build a delivery system that is more efficeient than kenya has now. Again unless you really understand healthcare you might not see the big opportunity currently available in Kenya.

This is only possible if you are offering technology...and there's a policy in place to ensure that you will be paid.

The sad truth about Kenya's health sector is that it is a non-profit business because the majority of the poor cant pay for the service vis a vis the cost of capital. Anyway, lets see how it goes.

That would be big business for equity, infact it would be a whole business all together, but they are not for that...rather they are opting to set up clinics and labs for diagnostic purposes. They'll probably lease the equipment but who'll be making money here?. But i'll wait for the MD for more..and the tricky part ..implementation

A high level of optimism and excitement met the announcement of the Thin SIM, Equitel network, keeping all that money sloshing just inside the memba ecosystem.
Safaricom pulled just one move with a small jiggling of Mpesa rates and the whole show crashed to the ground, still born. And I am not convinced it was all Safcom's doing, the thin sim didn't or hasn't put up any sort of fight. Other ideas too lie by the wayside, abandoned, Bebapay, mshwari was pitched at Equity at first - the implication is moribundness between the thinking and execution. What gives people the confidence that Equity can make good out of a deeply troubled business such as healthcare??
I prefer to err on the side of caution, call me narrow minded if you must. Thinking that you can waltz into other companies/people's areas of long and deep expertise and own them too cause you have excelled in another unrelated area is a sign of hubris and megalomania creeping in.
And yes, I am fully aware there are a few exceptions, but Daktari makes a case for not being to added this rarefied list by making precedent of having not succeeded in other non banking ventures.