The Enugu State Government has partnered with a group of Nigerians abroad to develop a cutting-edge medical city valued at over $300 million.
This state-of-the-art facility is set to enhance medical services across the entire spectrum, positioning Enugu State as a premier destination for medical tourism in Africa.
The state will contribute 100 hectares of land and, in return, will receive a 10 percent equity stake in the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) managing the project.
During a meeting with the executive and management of African Medical City at the Government House, Enugu, Governor Peter Mbah expressed that this initiative aligns with his campaign promise to increase the state’s economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion. The Governor emphasized his goal of making Enugu a leading hub for business, investment, tourism, and living.
He assured the investors, many of whom are Nigerian doctors based abroad, that the state government would promptly fulfill its commitments to ensure the project’s timely completion. Governor Mbah highlighted the significant annual expenditure of over $1 billion by Nigerians on medical tourism, attributing this to the lack of modern medical facilities locally.
“What we are witnessing here today is monumental, and we cannot take the value and the significance of it for granted. This is in line with the humongous promise we made to our people during our campaign for office to grow our GDP exponentially from $4.4 billion to $30 billion.
“But we recognised that a lot of that growth will come from the private sector; and we also recognised that it has to be enabled by the government. So, our strategy was to have a government-enabled, but private sector-driven economy.
“So, coming to Enugu with an investment size of over $300 million, we knew it was something that must not escape us when we heard of it. We must do everything necessary to ensure that the investment is not only sitting here, but that we also recruit you as one of our testimonials, people who can market Enugu based on your experience in terms of how we made it easy for you to come here and invest and how we have also shown transparency, accountability and integrity in the entire process.
“You can be assured that we will discharge all those obligations creditably,” the governor said.
Speaking, Chairman of the African Medical City, Ethelbert Nwanegbo, said the group was attracted to Enugu by the investment and ease of doing business push by the present administration in the state.
“We are not looking at the Enugu State of yesterday, but Enugu State of the future. And there is no better time for us to institute this, and there is no better place to establish the African Medical City than Enugu State. That is why we are proudly here, and we are proud to make this place our home.
“I believe that what this project is going to do to the economy of this state in the future, there is no other state that can stand the chance, especially in the areas of GDP, employment, welfare of our young and older parents and health status in the West African region,” he stated.
In his remarks, the President/CEO of African Medical City, Uchenna Ogbozor, assured that the organisation would hit the ground running.
“African Medical City is a big organisation and we have 21 members as it stands today. So, I want to commend our members, including those that are not here, for their financial commitment and capabilities.
“We are looking at this investment to be an over $300 million investment. The government is giving us 100 hectares of land, representing 10 per cent of the investment.
“We thank His Excellency for giving us that kind of support. We hope that in few weeks’ time, we will come back again, to advance the development plans in earnest” he stated.
