First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and Health Business Academy (HBA) Africa have signed a strategic partnership agreement aimed at improving access to financial solutions for healthcare businesses in Nigeria, a move intended to help scale and strengthen the sector.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in Lagos, where Mr. Wale Olajubu, Executive Director of HBA Africa, highlighted the persistent funding challenges facing healthcare in Africa.

He cited a World Bank estimate that $55 billion annually is needed for the continent to achieve universal healthcare coverage. Olajubu also referenced data from the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), revealing that 40 per cent of private hospitals in Nigeria close within five years due to funding gaps, mismanagement, and lack of qualified personnel.

“Funding will never come without competent leadership and strong business structures,” Olajubu said, noting the sector’s struggles with weak governance, under-skilled professionals, and failed hospitals. He described the partnership as a way to position FCMB as a key financial driver for Nigeria’s health sector while providing HBA members with subsidised executive education, financial literacy training, and access to tailored financing solutions.

On the HBA side, Olajubu said the organisation plans to expand its reach and offer more affordable training programs while helping members access financing. “In the next 12 months, we aim to make FCMB the number one bank for healthcare business in Nigeria. This partnership marks the beginning of the biggest growth drive for healthcare in Africa,” he said.

Mrs. Nnenna Jacob-Ogogo, Group Head of SheVentures at FCMB, described the partnership as a bold step in the bank’s efforts to bridge funding, capacity-building, and innovation gaps in the healthcare sector. She reaffirmed FCMB’s commitment to leveraging its expertise to bring transformative change to Nigeria’s healthcare landscape.

“We have always been very interested in the health industry and at this point in time, setting up something completely different for health and intentionally refocusing in on the health industry, which is one of the reasons we are very excited and passionate about this partnership that we have with HBA,” Jacob-Ogogo said.

Dr. Pamela Ajayi, Chairman of Bridge Clinic and guest speaker at the event, urged Nigeria to move away from dependence on donor aid and imports toward a future rooted in innovation, investment, and national health sovereignty. She emphasised that the future of healthcare depends on digital innovation, local pharmaceutical manufacturing, research and development, and infrastructure—all areas requiring both investment and skilled personnel.

Ajayi pointed to India’s healthcare industry, which is projected to reach \$638 billion in 2025, as a model Nigeria could follow. “India became a global hub for medical tourism by leveraging its pharmaceutical, biotech, and skilled workforce. There’s no reason Nigeria cannot, at the very least, become West Africa’s healthcare hub,” she said.

She praised financial institutions like FCMB for their interest in healthcare and called for a sustainable public-private partnership model where the government funds healthcare while the private sector handles service delivery.