NIGERIA—The African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) under the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has bagged the Best Health Deal in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) award.
The award recognises the AMCE investment deal by Afreximbank as the most significant health-related transaction across the EMEA region.
The award was presented at the 15th Annual EMEA Finance Achievement and Project Awards Charity Dinner.
The EMEA Finance Achievement Awards recognize the achievements of the best banks and the most impactful deals and transactions across Europe, the Middle East and Africa Region.
The AMCE, scheduled for commissioning in the first quarter of 2025, is being developed as a state-of-the-art hospital that will set the stage for advanced and wide-reaching healthcare in Nigeria and Africa.
It is envisioned as a 500-bed secondary and tertiary healthcare institution offering a wide range of services and specializations.
Upon its completion, ACME through research will build major inroads in the fields of oncology, cardiology, haematology, and general healthcare on the continent.
In addition, it will also provide a full range of medical services, including diagnostics, treatment, nuclear medicine, surgery, and post-surgical care.
The AMCE will also have supplementary components, such as a pharmaceuticals section, retail outlets and malls, academic and research centres, and hospitality and residential units.
On the other hand, ACME’s main backer, Afreximbank is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade for over three decades.
At the end of 2022, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$31 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$5.2 billion.
According to data from the bank, it disbursed more than US$86 billion between 2016 and 2022 to different projects across Africa such as the ACME.
The award is a testament to the hard work and many hours of toiling by the multi-faceted and creative teams working on this highly impactive project, acknowledged Mrs Gwen Mwaba, Afreximbank’s Director & Global Head, Trade Finance when she received the award.
She also alluded to the efforts of Kings College Hospital (KCH), London, as the clinical and technical partner noting that during their recently concluded visit to the project site, they had been overwhelmingly impressed with the pace of progress.
Oluranti Doherty, Director of Export Development praised Afreximbank’s efforts noting that the organisation’s goal, was to revolutionize the healthcare landscape in the West African region, to begin with, and to the entire African region.
Brian Deaver, CEO of, AMCE stated, “This award clearly demonstrates what lies ahead for the AMCE – a new dawn in the provision of best-in-class, globally recognized quality healthcare and clinical services in Africa, in support of Afreximbank’s leadership in trade and trade facilitation in Africa.”
Behind the health deal of the year
ACME is designed under Afreximbank’s 5th Strategic Plan, IMPACT 2021, which seeks to develop initiatives such as ACME, to support and promote the diversification of Africa’s exports and the development of world-class health facilities on the continent.
The Abuja ACME is only part of its ambitious continent-wide plan of developing similar centres that aim on improving the quality of healthcare and health-related research to cater for the African population.
ACME’s future evolves around the development and educational healthcare programs in partnership with leading global institutions such as the University of Wisconsin, King’s College Hospital, and the Christie Hospital in Manchester.
Additionally, it has the potential to establish the largest and most diverse biobank in West Africa, enabling it to attract global and Pan-African partnerships, making it a global point of reference and source of medical tourism in the region.
The AMCE will offer residency, training and observership placement programmes that will afford the opportunity for physicians and students at local teaching to train under the expertise of its specialists and with the benefit of its patient volumes.
The initial capital outlay for the first phase of the AMCE Abuja is projected at US$300 million.
The investment is expected to rise to about US$750 million, upon full development, making the facility by a significant distance the single largest private healthcare investment in Nigeria and Africa in general.
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