The Enugu State Government and a group of Nigerian diasporans have entered into a landmark partnership to establish a cutting-edge medical city in the state, valued at over $300 million.
This state-of-the-art facility will offer comprehensive medical services, positioning Enugu State as a premier hub for medical tourism in Africa, a statement on Friday by the office of Governor Peter Mbah stated.
As part of the agreement, the state will provide 100 hectares of land in exchange for a 10% equity stake in the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) driving the project’s development.
Governor Mbah warmly welcomed the executive and management team of African Medical City, comprised mostly of Nigerian medical professionals based abroad, and assured them of the state government’s prompt fulfillment of its obligations to ensure the project’s timely completion.
He highlighted the pressing need for modern medical facilities, citing the estimated $1 billion spent annually by Nigerians on medical tourism due to inadequate infrastructure.
“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, Dr. 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.
“What we are trying to do here is to establish a medical city. A medical city is not just a medical building, to be sure. So, when we think of Africa, we think of Nigeria and think of yesterday.“
In his remark, the President/CEO of African Medical City, Dr. 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 hectres of land, representing 10 per cent of the investment”.
Also on the AMC delegation was Mr. Joseph Michael Budetti, a financial advisor.
