Consultants always wish they actually did what their clients do. This division allows us to fulfil our wished-for entrepreneurship. But it also has a distinctively new market feel to it. Sounds fun?

Throughout its history, McGrigor Specialty has put its money where its expertise is, taking small stakes in return for advice, often as part compensation for a success. Mostly this is only possible with start-up or smaller private companies, and is taken up opportunistically.

Much more deliberate has been McGrigor’s 15-year love affair with Africa. Led by Chad van Vacas and exercised across the 5 core markets: RSA, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Morocco to smaller ones like Benin and Tanzania, we have consistently invested in return for a share of the success. Some examples are:

Supporting the Diplomat sector in finding global health solutions – We advise ministries of foreign affairs (MOFAs), inter-governmental organisations (IGOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on finding/creating the right health insurance and service solutions to cover and prevent the very specific risks taken by international civil servants, public sector workers and NGO employees who work often in challenging environments. Not many people could overcome the problem of covering diplomats sent to Cuba, but we can.

Auditing the overseas healthcare spend of Governments – Millions of USD’s are spent annually by African and other Governments on very sick patients travelling to more established health centres overseas. Very little track and trace exists, and tremendous waste occurs. McGrigor can help to prevent that and secure better contracting for the future.

Finding the right distribution and service partners across multiple countries – be it helping African countries to meet the exacting regulatory export standards of global trading blocks or unpicking the real from the claimed capabilities of importers into Africa, McGrigor can access a trusted expert and support the process in a way sympathetic to the particular needs of these complex jobs.