The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) plans to collaborate with other pertinent and strategic partners to finance the construction of a 500-bed state-of-the-art medical facility in Abuja, which will be known as the “African Medical Centre of Excellence” (AMCE), in an effort to demonstrate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s commitment to providing for Nigerians’ healthcare needs.
The facility is projected to provide state of the art care to over 350,000 patients in Nigeria and other African countries within its first five years of operation and as well attract talents back to the ecosystem on the continent, providing better access to much needed healthcare.
TETFund’s contribution to the establishment of this modern medical centre which is expected to commence operations in the first quarter of 2025 will be in the area of facilities, staff training and research. This will not only draw researchers and scholars from existing colleges and universities of medical sciences but will also stem the tide of medical tourism in Nigeria and the African continent in general.
The executive secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono, said the Fund as an intervention agency of government that is saddled with the responsibility of providing funding to all public tertiary education institutions in Nigeria is always ready to partner with various bodies in the area of research to address the challenges facing the country.
On the establishment of the medical centre, TETFund is to join the already existing partnership between King’s College Hospital, London; the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). Speaking recently in his office in Abuja while playing host to a senior delegation from the Kings College Hospital, Echono expressed delight in the opportunity to collaborate saying any effort to create local content that will bring modern facilities to the right faculties that will ensure delivery of tertiary healthcare to Nigerians will always be embraced.
In his words;
“In recognition of the huge challenge we face as a country, especially in the area of life sciences, medical sciences and the huge foreign exchange expended annually on medical tourism to so many countries on the globe, this is a welcome development. We (Nigeria) are also establishing institutions that will focus on the health and life sciences sector and we believe if we can have this type of partnership and draw the right personnel, and with Afriexim Bank’s involvement, we believe we will be able to provide modern facilities that will set the standard”.
“We also have a robust training programme for our personnel, including facilities of our institutions, so we will look at that opportunity because TETFund has an academic staff training programme.”
