FG secures over $2.2bn for health sector reforms

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has revealed that his administration has so far secured over $2.2 billion to support ongoing health sector reforms in the country.

Tinubu made this known on Thursday while officially commissioning the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja, describing the project as a monument to African resilience and innovation, and a bold step toward Nigeria’s emergence as a global healthcare hub.

He explained that the funding came through health sector commitments under the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, launched by his administration in December 2023.

The initiative, already in progress, aims to renovate over 17,000 primary health centres, train 120,000 frontline health workers, and double national health insurance coverage within three years.

Speaking during the AMCE commissioning, President Tinubu, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, emphasised that the event was not just about unveiling a physical structure, but also about rejecting “medical vulnerability as destiny.”

The President outlined reforms and investments made since he assumed 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).

According to him, these policies have boosted local pharmaceutical production, enhanced regulatory systems, and expanded access to diagnostics.

“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 stated.

According to a statement by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), the AMCE is a state-of-the-art facility developed by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in partnership with King’s College Hospital, London. It will serve as a premier centre for advanced treatment, medical training, and research.

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

Paying tribute to Afreximbank 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, noting that “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.”

He highlighted the potential of the planned Medical and Nursing School on the campus, with partners including King’s College London and the University of Wisconsin, to train a new generation of African medical specialists who will be empowered locally.

“This is not just a place to treat the sick—it is a place to train for the future,” Tinubu said, assuring continued government support for the initiative as a strategic investment in Nigeria’s future.

Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, said Nigeria is “healthier and wealthier” with the establishment of the AMCE. He noted that the facility, costing not less than $400 million, was mobilised by the private sector.

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Edun remarked that the timing could not be better for Africa to have a facility capable of managing diverse medical conditions, describing the hospital as “a marvel of science and modernity of facility.”

Earlier, Afreximbank President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Prof. Benedict Oramah, said the centre symbolises the belief that “society is better off serving lives than burying its dead.” Recalling his personal health struggles and treatment at King’s College Hospital in London, he said the AMCE was his way of giving back and contributing to quality healthcare infrastructure in Africa.

“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.

In his goodwill message, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Montgomery, commended Afreximbank and the AMCE Board, stating that the hospital is an important development that will help curb outbound medical tourism and attract people to Nigeria for quality healthcare.

Other speakers at the commissioning included Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, represented by Dr Jenista Joakim Mhagama, Tanzania’s Minister of Health; Professor Clive Kay, Chief Executive of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; and Dr Tajudeen Raji, Acting Deputy Director General, Africa Centre for Disease Control.

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