Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Thursday inaugurated the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The AMCE is a tertiary medical city developed by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in partnership with King’s College Hospital, London.
The facility is designed to bridge critical healthcare gaps in Africa and deliver services in oncology, haematology, cardiovascular care, and general surgery, while also serving as a hub for medical research and training.
The 500-bed facility is expected to serve over 350,000 patients within its first five years of operation.
Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu, said the healthcare facility is proof that Africa is prepared to compete with the best medical services around the world.
He added that the medical centre is an example of what becomes possible when institutions rise to African challenges with African solutions.
“So, I must pay tribute to Afreximbank and its visionary president for seeing what many dared not dream,” Shettima said.
“I salute the partnership with King’s College Hospital and the brilliant minds behind this medical renaissance.
“When we took office two years ago, we set out to break the cycle of dysfunction in our healthcare system.
“I signed an executive order to unlock the healthcare value chain, making room for local manufacturers, domestic innovators, and private sector partners like you.
“Through the renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, we are investing in the roads, power, and connectivity that breathe life into health facilities.
“Because a world-class hospital cannot function on a dirt road, and no MRI machine works without stable electricity.
“So, the African Medical Centre of Excellence could not have come at a better time.
“It will benefit from the investments and reforms we have championed, and it is also a reminder that the ultimate measure of a functional nation is the synergy between the government and private sector players to co-create solutions.”
Brian Deaver, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the AMCE, said the centre marks a milestone for Africa.
Deaver said the completion of the centre is a promise that world-class, cutting-edge healthcare is not something one must leave Africa for.
“It is now right here, homegrown, African-dreamed, African-built. And soon, African-renowned,” he said.
“The African Medical Centre of Excellence—this beautiful, high-tech, purpose-built facility—is the result of vision, collaboration, persistence, and more than a few sleepless nights.
“This is where engineering meets compassion, where precision meets empathy, and where patients will meet a new standard of care—one defined not by borders but by excellence.”
Deaver thanked Afreximbank for financing the project and believing that Africa deserves not just good, but great healthcare.
“We thank Kings College Hospital London for their clinical leadership and training partnership, and we thank the Federal Government of Nigeria for its unwavering support throughout this journey,” he said.
Benedict Oramah, president of the Afreximbank, said the goal is for the AMCE and two or three others that will follow in other parts of Africa to make a bold statement to the world that Africa is finally taking its destiny into its hands in terms of healthcare sovereignty and contributions in setting global healthcare standards.
“We want this initiative to lead in providing solutions to the African healthcare problems, namely the challenge of inadequate healthcare infrastructure and diagnostics facilities, the billions of US dollars being expended in outbound medical tourism, and the very limited research on diseases of interest to people of African descent,” he said
