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First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has committed N20 billion to finance private healthcare businesses in Nigeria as part of efforts to close the sector’s funding gap and support the expansion of healthcare services across the country.
The bank announced the Healthcare Fund at its inaugural healthcare summit in Lagos, saying the financing will provide affordable, long-term capital to hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres, pharmaceutical companies, pharmacies, maternity homes and other healthcare enterprises.
According to FCMB, the fund will support business expansion, acquisition of medical equipment, infrastructure development, working capital and technology investments aimed at strengthening healthcare delivery.
The initiative comes as the Federal Government intensifies efforts to improve healthcare capacity and increase local production of medicines and medical devices, with a target of meeting 70 per cent of domestic demand by 2030 under the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain.
Speaking at the summit, FCMB’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Yemisi Edun, whose remarks were delivered by Executive Director, Corporate Services and Service Management, Felicia Obozuwa, described healthcare as both a social and economic priority.
“Healthcare is a social imperative and an economic priority. Building a strong healthcare system requires capital that is patient, affordable and long-term,” Edun said.
She explained that the N20 billion fund forms part of a broader healthcare financing programme that combines lending with advisory services and strategic partnerships to help healthcare businesses strengthen operations, improve governance and attract additional investment.
President of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Njide Ndili, said inadequate access to finance remains one of the biggest challenges facing private healthcare providers.
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Drawing from HFN’s partnership with the PharmAccess Medical Credit Fund, Ndili noted that healthcare businesses have demonstrated strong loan repayment records when financing is supported with technical assistance, capacity building and quality improvement programmes.
She disclosed that HFN would collaborate with FCMB to develop a framework for pre-qualifying healthcare facilities and preparing businesses to become investment-ready. The federation represents more than 400 member organisations and over 4,000 healthcare professionals.
The summit also highlighted the importance of strengthening corporate governance, financial reporting and management capacity to ensure healthcare businesses can effectively utilise long-term financing.
Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, said the Federal Government has significantly increased public investment in the health sector.
According to him, over N339 billion has been disbursed through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund over the past 12 years, including N235 billion released in the last three years under the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative.
He added that another N32.9 billion had recently been disbursed to support more than 8,300 primary healthcare centres nationwide, with plans to expand coverage to about 13,000 facilities.
Salako called for stronger mobilisation of both public and private capital to accelerate healthcare investment, urging operators to improve corporate governance, strengthen financial reporting and embrace blended finance models to drive growth.
The summit also explored investment opportunities across primary healthcare, diagnostics, local pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical equipment, digital health and healthcare infrastructure as stakeholders sought ways to expand quality healthcare services across Nigeria.
