•Inaugurates $300m Afreximbank-funded medical centre in Abuja  

•$75 million set aside as endowment fund for research

President Bola Tinubu yesterday, officially inaugurated the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja, describing the project as a monument to African resilience and innovation, and a bold step towards Nigeria’s emergence as a global healthcare hub.

This is as he disclosed that the country has secured over $2.2 billion in health sector commitments through the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, launched by his administration in December 2023. The initiative, which is already underway, aims to renovate over 17,000 primary health centres, train 120,000 frontline health workers, and double national health insurance coverage within three years.

Highlights of the ceremony included the announcement of the African Life Sciences Foundation endowment fund of $75 million brokered by Afreximbank and the Bank of Industry to support medical research.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the AMCE, Tinubu, who was represented by  Vice President Kashim Shettima, noted that it was not just about unveiling a structure of steel and bricks, but also unveiling Nigeria’s, “collective refusal to accept medical vulnerability as destiny.”

The President narrated reforms and investments made since he took office two years ago, including the signing of an Executive Order to unlock the healthcare value chain and the launch of the Presidential Initiative to Unlock the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC).

These policies, he said, have intensified local pharmaceutical production, improved regulatory systems, and expanded access to diagnostics.

According to Tinubu: “But our efforts did not end there. In December 2023, we launched the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative. That initiative secured over $2.2 billion in health sector commitments, with clear, measurable targets: to renovate over 17,000 primary health centres, train 120,000 frontline health workers, and double health insurance coverage within three years. These are not aspirations. These are milestones already in motion.”

The President noted that the AMCE, a state-of-the-art facility developed by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in partnership with King’s College Hospital, London, would serve as a leading centre for advanced treatment, medical training, and research.

The facility, according to him, hosts the largest stem cell laboratory in West Africa and will expand to include a teaching hospital, nursing school, and residential quarters for medical personnel.

He said the initiative has laid a foundation for a new generation of medical professionals in Nigeria and has given hope that the ‘Japa’ syndrome will soon be put to an end.

becomes possible when institutions rise to African challenges with African solutions.

“We are not gathered here because we lack hospitals. Far from it. We are here because the pursuit of excellence is endless. We are gathered because we refuse to accept mediocrity as

our destiny.

“I am also proud that Nigeria now hosts the largest stem cell laboratory in West Africa, located within this Centre. With your planned Medical and Nursing School on this campus, and with partners ranging from King’s College London to the University of Wisconsin, you are laying the foundation for a new generation of African medical specialists—specialists

who will no longer be exported but empowered at home,” he added.

Paying tribute to Afreximbank’s President, Prof. Benedict Oramah, Tinubu said, “I must pay tribute to Afreximbank and its visionary President, Professor Benedict Oramah, for seeing what many dared not dream. This is what becomes possible when institutions rise to African challenges with African solutions.”

The President also stressed the importance of infrastructure investment through the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, even as he said, “A world-class hospital cannot function on a dirt road, and no MRI machine works without stable electricity. We are investing in the roads, power, and connectivity that breathe life into health facilities.

“With your planned Medical and Nursing School on this campus, and with partners ranging from King’s College London to the University of Wisconsin, you are laying the foundation for a new generation of African medical specialists—specialists who will no longer be exported but empowered at home.”

Tinubu assured continued government support for the initiative, saying it was a strategic investment in Nigeria’s future.

“This is not just a place to treat the sick—it is a place to train for the future,” he added.

On his part, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, said with the establishment of the AMCE, “Nigeria is today healthier and wealthier than before.”

He pointed out that if figures were to be displayed, the edifice would cost not less than $400 million mobilised by the private sector.

The Minister said this type of establishment could not come at a better time than this for Africa to have a hospital that can handle different medical associations on the continent, adding, “The hospital is a marvel of science and modernity of facility.”

Earlier in his remarks, Oramah, said the event was a testimony that, “society is better-off serving lives that burying its death and that it’s a living person that can contribute to the development and social transformation.”

Recalling his ordeal as a sick person admitted at the King’s College Hospital in London, he stated that the only way he could appreciate the Almighty God, his Afreximbank colleagues and those who saved his life was to contribute to creating quality healthcare infrastructure and services.

Oramah said one of the contributions he could make to Africa was to help Afreximbank, “to deliver on its well-developed and documented structured strategy on medical care delivery and with Star Alliance, Kings College Hospital in London and twelve years of sick medical experience, the African Medical Centre of Excellence opens its door in Abuja.”

“African Medical Centre of Excellence is not just to provide top-notch medical care but also catalyse the transformation of the African health sector,” he added.

Giving his goodwill message, British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Montgomery, thanked the President of Afreximbank, the Board of African Medical Centre for Excellence and everyone who worked to put the hospital in place.

He said the hospital is an important institution that will stop medical tourism in Nigeria, as it will attract people to the nation to get the same benefits they would have received outside the shores of the country.

On his part, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, commended Afreximbank for what he described as a bold and innovative initiative

Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) said the hospital would not only bring great innovations in medical practice but would help reduce resources lost in medical tourism by African people.

Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA ), Vankele Mene said the AMCE is coming to break barriers in medical excellence and bring in the most sort best practices in medical practice to Africa for the benefit of the people of the continent.

He said the African Union was committed to supporting the initiative and mobilise all other agencies to offer their support for the success of the health initiative.

Tanzanian President represented by their Minister of Health commended the innovative steps by Nigeria and the Afreximbank in establishing the health facility, which she said will no doubt contribute significantly to the quest to improve the capacity of health professionals.