By Doris Obinna
Oluranti Doherty, Managing Director, Export Development, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), a pan-African multilateral financial institution.
By her recommendation and efforts, Afreximbank has spearheaded several transformative initiatives, including in the area of African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE), a strategic project aimed at addressing the continent’s $2.5 billion annual medical tourism expenditure by providing high-quality healthcare services locally.
In this interview, Doherty spoke on why the AMCE was conceive, its vision to transform Africa’s healthcare landscape, and the reduction of the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Nigeria, among others.
You are part of the team that conceptualised African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE). What was the initial vision behind the centre?
The bold AMCE vision was borne out of the personal experience of the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, to address the persistent challenges in accessing high-quality healthcare across the continent. For decades, Africans have been compelled to seek medical care abroad, often at great financial and emotional cost. Our goal is to bring world-class healthcare within reach, eliminating the need for costly international travel and associated expenses, such as accommodation, while ensuring that quality medical treatment, including advanced diagnostics, training and research are available right here in Africa.
By doing so, we aim to curb outbound medical tourism, strengthen the healthcare system, enhance skills of local healthcare professionals, and foster innovation in medical research tailored to the continent’s unique needs. In essence, the vision is to expand access to quality healthcare, retain medical talent, conserve foreign exchange, and generate employment throughout the healthcare ecosystem.
Why is it important for Afreximbank to venture into healthcare, and why now?
Afreximbank’s mission is to drive Africa’s economic growth through innovation, investment, and the promotion of intra-Africa trade. As non-communicable diseases have surged across the continent, it became increasingly evident that improving healthcare access is not only a social obligation but also an economic necessity. A healthy population underpins productivity and is essential for sustained development.
One of the challenges we faced was finding bankable projects of this scale which the bank could support through its product offerings. We saw this as a clear opportunity to champion the creation of resilient, accessible, and high-quality healthcare facility that would meet Africa’s needs from within. This approach is fully aligned with our broader goal of driving growth through transformative, homegrown solutions.
Afreximbank has been at the forefront of the drive to transform the structure of Africa’s healthcare landscape by facilitating the emergence of world-class medical infrastructure across the continent. In fact, the AMCE initiative is a flagship project under our broader Healthcare and Medical Tourism Programme (HMTP). Through the HMTP, the bank seeks to establish world-class medical and health facilities across Africa to meet the continent’s growing healthcare needs, enhance service exports, promote employment, and conserve Africa’s scarce foreign exchange.
Through this programme, we have also introduced the Construction and Medical Tourism Relay Facility (CONMED) which is a facility created to leverage financing into Africa’s health and medical services industry to support the development of world-class medical infrastructure. To date, the bank has completed deals in excess of 1 billion USD through the CONMED Facility.
Our support for healthcare extends beyond infrastructure. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in collaboration with the Africa CDC and UNECA, Afreximbank played a central role in establishing the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) and supported the creation of a procurement platform for pandemic-related medical supplies. These initiatives underscore a central tenet of our development strategy. Healthcare is not just a human right, it is a critical enabler of economic transformation.
In what ways is AMCE expected to improve access to specialized healthcare in Nigeria and West Africa?
AMCE Abuja is multi specialty hospital, offering a full spectrum of medical services (diagnostics, in-patient and out-patient) in oncology, haematology, cardiology and general care capabilities as well as research and development capabilities. The AMCE Abuja was developed at a cost of US$300 million and expected to rise to about US$750 million, upon full development. AMCE Abuja will tackle the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, capital flight and brain drain of qualified medical personnel, yielding the following benefits for Nigeria and the entire continent: creation of approximately 3,000 jobs during its construction and operational phases; provision of prompt, lifesaving detection and management of serious diseases delivered to over 200,000 patients in Nigeria and a further 150,000 patients from other African countries within its first five years of operation; and promoting intra-regional trade in medical services and strengthening of supply chains in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors.
AMCE Abuja is conceived not just as a hospital situated in Nigeria, but as a platform that will help develop the healthcare sector across the continent. In this regard, AMCE Abuja will offer clinical services in Oncology, Haematology and Cardiology that currently do not exist in many African countries.
How will the AMCE reduce outbound medical tourism from Africa, especially Nigeria?
AMCE Abuja is a world-class medical institution equipped with state-of-the-art technology, much of which is being introduced into Africa (outside of Egypt and South Africa) for the first time. Some of the unique features of the AMCE Abuja include the following: largest specialty hospital in Nigeria and West Africa with three focus areas cardiovascular services, hematology, and comprehensive oncology with 170 beds initially with a plan to expand to 500 beds; within the hospital we have five theatres and three catheterization laboratory; largest intensive care unit of 20 beds and six critical care units’ beds; hospital with the largest stem cell laboratory and 15 post stem cell isolation rooms in West Africa; building with the most advanced Clinical Laboratories in molecular genetics, hematology, chemistry, histopathology and microbiology services and 20 chemotherapy chairs with compounding pharmacy.
In addition there are some of the most advanced machines in health care including: 18 mev cyclotron, positron emission tomography computed tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, three tesla magnetic resonance imaging, 256 slices computed tomography, 128 slices computed tomography machine, three angiography machine, two linear accelerators, one brachytherapy machine with iridium source and NAAT Analyser for blood screening.
With these equipment and first-class medical practitioners, the AMCE Abuja will be able to provide diagnostics and clinical interventions to address chronic illnesses that otherwise would have required Nigerians to travel outside the country to be treated.
Looking ahead, how does Afreximbank plan to expand this kind of impact-driven project across Africa?
AMCE is a truly pan-African initiative, with the Abuja serving as the headquarter. AMCE represents a broader ambition to expand access to world-class healthcare across the continent. Afreximbank aims to replicate and scale this model in other African regions to ensure that high-quality, advanced healthcare becomes a continental standard. To this end, we are already engaging with countries in Eastern and Central Africa to identify host countries for the next AMCEs. These AMCEs will build on the insights and lessons learnt from the development of the AMCE Abuja, while being tailored to meet the specific healthcare needs of each region. Each facility will be rooted in the same principles: clinical excellence, long-term sustainability, and transformational impact.
This is only the beginning, and we are excited by the opportunity to deliver meaningful change across Africa’s healthcare landscape.
What is the projected economic benefit of the AMCE for Nigeria and the region?
The economic impact of the AMCE extends well beyond the health sector. Some of the economic benefit of the AMCE Abuja include the following: ensuring that the country materially retains over US$1.1 billion spent annually in healthcare expenditure abroad; making Abuja a centre for medical tourism and attract part of the US$7 billion Africans currently spend overseas on healthcare; supporting the upgrade of Nigeria’s healthcare sector overall, including through linkages with teaching hospitals, private and public clinics and hospitals; creating approximately 3,000 jobs during its construction and operational phases; providing prompt, lifesaving detection and management of serious diseases delivered to over 200,000 patients in Nigeria and a further 150,000 patients from other African countries within its first five years of operation and promoting intra-regional trade in medical services and strengthen supply chains in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors.
What has been the strategic importance of the partnership with King’s College Hospital, London in shaping the development and delivery of the AMCE?
AMCE Abuja will operate in partnership with KCH, leveraging KCH’s diagnostic, clinical and capacity-building expertise to become a world-class healthcare institution. Together, we shaped the clinical services strategy, developed the blueprint for care, and created a robust quality framework that places patient safety and excellence at the centre of every service. This collaboration ensures that AMCE meets the highest standards of care and research, and it also helps us stay ahead by fostering innovation and knowledge-sharing.
Given the MDG-era (Millennium Development Goals) focus on combating diseases and improving maternal health, how does the AMCE contribute to long-term health outcomes in the region?
The MDGs laid an important foundation by addressing pressing health priorities like infectious diseases and maternal health, significantly advancing healthcare outcomes across Africa. Building on that progress, AMCE Abuja shifts focus to the growing challenge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, cardiovascular conditions, and diabetes, now among the leading causes of illness and death on the continent.
AMCE Abuja is designed to close this gap through access to specialized care, advanced diagnostics, and a strong emphasis on research and innovation. Beyond delivering treatment, AMCE Abuja aims to strengthen Africa’s long-term capacity to prevent, manage, and ultimately reduce the burden of NCDs, supporting a healthier and more resilient population for generations to come.
AMCE Abuja directly advances the spirit of the MDG-era goals, by offering a sustainable, high-impact model for health system strengthening. By offering advanced diagnostic tools, cutting-edge treatments, and supporting research, we aim to improve patient outcomes and reduce health disparities. Our approach is focused on creating a sustainable healthcare system that can effectively manage NCDs, ensuring better health for Africa’s future.