President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Dr. George Elombi, visited the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja on July 3, 2026, as part of a working tour of Nigeria and the wider region.
The visit doubled as a checkpoint on a bold experiment: can Africa build and run world-class specialist hospitals on its own terms?, One year into operations, the numbers suggest the answer is yes.
Why This Matters
For decades, wealthy and middle-class Africans needing advanced cancer treatment, complex heart surgery, or organ and stem cell procedures have had one default option: get on a plane. India, the UK, South Africa, and the Gulf states have long profited from Africa’s outbound “medical tourism,” a drain estimated in the billions of dollars annually across the continent.
The African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) was built to interrupt that pattern. Developed by Afreximbank in partnership with King’s College Hospital, London, the center’s mandate was never just to open a hospital, it was to prove that specialist, quaternary-level care could be delivered locally, staffed largely by African professionals, and trusted by African patients.
READ ALSO
- Customs, Afreximbank Deepen Partnership to Boost Intra-African Trade
- Afreximbank Records $1.2bn Profit as Assets Hit $48.5bn in 2025
- Why Rating Agencies Keep Marking Down Africa – Dr Elombi
The Numbers Behind the Story
In its first year, AMCE has moved from blueprint to results:
- Over 5,000 patients registered, drawn from more than 20 countries across four continents
- 40,000+ diagnostic tests and investigations processed through its laboratory
- 10 open-heart surgeries and 11 cardiac surgical procedures completed
- 99 catheterisation laboratory procedures performed
- 173 anaesthesia-supported procedures carried out
- 2 stem cell transplants successfully completed
- 600+ staff employed, representing 12 nationalities
Two clinical milestones stand out as continental firsts:
- West Africa’s first Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for lung cancer—used to treat an elderly patient with a localized tumor, sparing him the need to travel abroad for a procedure that is highly precise and non-invasive.
- AMCE’s first complex Triple Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG)—a demonstration that advanced, multi-vessel heart surgery can now meet global standards on African soil.
What’s Next: Nuclear Medicine
AMCE has also begun offering nuclear medicine services. Patients can now access SPECT/CT imaging (used for bone scans, kidney function tests, and blood flow studies). A more advanced imaging tool, PET/CT—commonly used to detect and stage cancers—is scheduled to launch later in 2026.
Speaking on the milestones, Dr. Elombi described AMCE’s first-year performance as proof of what African institutions can achieve when given the right backing.
He called it a clear sign of African excellence and institutional resolve, crediting the talented professionals delivering care and urging Nigerians and other Africans to make full use of a facility built by African institutions with government support.
AMCE’s Chief Executive Officer, Brian Deaver, struck a similar note, framing the past year as evidence that the continent can sustain, not just launch, centers of this caliber while pointing to continued research, education, and innovation as the path forward.
The visit wasn’t only about medical statistics. Dr. Elombi also toured clinical departments and met staff directly, receiving updates on long-term expansion plans.
That AMCE was also recently awarded Great Place to Work Certification—with 90% of employees affirming it as such—points to an institution building a durable culture alongside clinical capability, a factor often overlooked in assessments of healthcare infrastructure investment.
The Bigger Picture
Analysts are of the view that AMCE’s first year offers Afreximbank a proof of concept it can point to elsewhere on the continent: that development finance, paired with the right clinical partnerships, can shrink the gap between what African patients need and what they’re forced to seek abroad. Whether the model scales beyond Abuja will likely shape how the Bank approaches health infrastructure financing across its other regional priorities going forward
Sunday Michael Ogwu is a Nigerian journalist and editor of Pinnacle Daily. He is known for his work in business and economic reporting. He has held editorial roles in prominent Nigerian media outlets, where he has focused on economic policy, financial markets, and developmental issues affecting Nigeria and Africa more broadly.