The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) say it hopes to help reverse the heavy financial losses Africa suffers from medical tourism. According to the bank, billions of dollars are leaving the continent each year due to the poor state of local healthcare systems.
Afreximbank’s Export Development Managing Director, Mrs Oluranti Doherty, said Nigeria alone loses around $1.1 billion annually to foreign medical trips. She said this while addressing delegates at the ongoing Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM2025) in Abuja.
She said, “We just talked about Nigeria, where our medical tourism annually is about $1.1 billion. The entire continent is about $7 billion just because we can’t help ourselves when we come up with chronic diseases.”
Medical Tourism Draining Africa’s Wealth
Doherty noted that Africa’s dependency on overseas healthcare is draining foreign reserves and stunting the growth of local hospitals. She described the financial losses as money used to develop foreign hospitals while African citizens suffer poor care at home.
“That’s money that’s going to other economies, building up their institutions,” she said.
She also warned that beyond economic damage, the trend contributes to the exodus of medical professionals.
“The best of talents in the health sector were going out of the continent,” she said.
Many African doctors, she added, have relocated to countries like India, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States, where working conditions and salaries are better.
Afreximbank Invests in Africa Medical Center of Excellence
Doherty revealed that Afreximbank took steps as far back as 2012 to address this crisis. She said the bank launched its Health and Medical Tourism Programme in response to the growing outflow of money and talent.
The flagship project under the initiative is the Africa Medical Center of Excellence (AMCE), a 170-bed hospital located in Abuja.
The AMCE will feature advanced medical equipment such as a three-Tesla MRI machine, a 20-bed intensive care unit, and an 18 MeV cyclotron for cancer diagnosis and treatment.
She said, “Afreximbank has invested over $450 million to establish and scale up this project.”
Doherty praised the boldness of the project’s vision and the commitment behind it.
She said, “Afreximbank had to go where no one has gone before; Afreximbank’s leaders adhered to the dreamers.”
New Hospital Targets Global Standard Healthcare
The AMCE aims to match the quality of medical services offered in top hospitals around the world. Doherty said the facility will help reduce the demand for foreign treatment by offering Nigerians and other Africans quality healthcare at home.
“The AMCE aims to provide healthcare services comparable to global standards, not just African standards,” she said.
She called the project a homegrown response to Africa’s healthcare challenge, designed by Africans for Africans.
She added, “I’m talking about global standard. I’m talking about Africans coming up with solutions to challenge.”
Doherty stressed that while building hospitals is important, restoring trust in local healthcare is just as urgent. She said ordinary people must feel safe and confident in using hospitals across Africa.
She said Afreximbank’s broader aim is to make Africa medically self-reliant, keep healthcare money on the continent, and improve health access for all.
Rate, Like 👍, Comment💬, share this article, Follow us on our social media handles, and Submit your own story to get featured and earn rewards!
WhatsApp Channel
Telegram Channel
