Abuja-President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, commissioned 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.

This came 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 president said 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.

The launch of the state-of-the-art medical facility in Nigeria marks a significant milestone in Africa’s healthcare delivery.

The AMCE, developed through partnerships with Afreximbank and King’s College Hospital, prides itself with cutting-edge facilities, including West Africa’s first 18 MeV Cyclotron, 3 Tesla MRI, PET/SPECT CT, and 256-slice CT.

The hospital has Africa’s largest stem cell laboratory, linear accelerators, cath labs, and AI-powered diagnostics.

The advanced technologies will enable the centre to offer state-of-the-art treatments, including stem cell transplantation and clinical trials.

Commissioning the world-class facility in Abuja, Tinubu, described the project as a monument to African resilience and innovation, and a bold step toward Nigeria’s emergence as a global healthcare hub.

The president, represented by his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, noted that it was not just about unveiling a structure of steel and bricks, but unveiling Nigeria’s “collective refusal to accept medical vulnerability as destiny.”

The President said: “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 AMCE, a state-of-the-art facility developed by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) 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.

Further, he said: “I must pay tribute to Afreximbank and its visionary President, Prof. 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, adding, “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,” he stated.

He assured of continued government support for the initiative, saying it is 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.

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 mobilised 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.”


https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/06/fg-secures-over-2-2bn-for-health-sector-reforms/