President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday officially commissioned the African Medical Centre of Excellence 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.
This is just as the country has secured over $2.2 billion in health sector commitments through the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, launched by the Tinubu 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.
Healthcare Reform: A refusal to accept medical vulnerability
Speaking during the commissioning ceremony of the AMCE, President Tinubu, who was represented by his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, noted that it is 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).
He said these policies have intensified local pharmaceutical production, improved 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.
“This 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 explained.
AMCE to lead in research, training, and advanced treatment
The President noted that AMCE, a state-of-the-art facility developed by the African Export-Import Bank in partnership with King’s College Hospital, London, will 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.
Paying tribute to Afreximbank President Prof. Benedict Oramah, President 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.”
Infrastructure investment key to healthcare delivery
He also highlighted the importance of infrastructure investment through the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund.
“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,” Tinubu said.
“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 assured continued government support, calling the project 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.
Finance Minister: Private sector mobilized $400m for AMCE
Also speaking, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, said that with the establishment of the Afreximbank African Medical Centre of Excellence, 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 mobilized by the private sector.
He 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.”
Oramah: Personal experience sparked vision for AMCE
Earlier in his remarks, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank, Prof. Benedict Orama, 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, the Afreximbank colleagues and those who saved his life was to contribute to creating quality healthcare infrastructure and services.
Oramah said his contribution to Africa included helping Afreximbank implement its structured and well-documented strategy for medical care delivery.
Drawing on his personal experience with illness, as well as collaborations with Star Alliance and King’s College Hospital in London, He noted that the African Medical Centre of Excellence in Abuja was established not only to provide top-tier healthcare but also to drive transformation in the continent’s health sector.
