Africa is hemorrhaging $7 billion annually due to medical tourism, with Nigeria alone accounting for $1.1 billion of this loss, according to the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
Afreximbank’s Export Development Managing Director, Mrs. Oluranti Doherty, disclosed this during the 32nd Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Abuja.
“This trend is hindering economic development and local healthcare infrastructure,” Doherty said, adding that the soaring costs of medical tourism are a significant drain on African economies. “We had our member countries losing a lot of foreign exchange to medical tourism… That’s money that’s going to other economies, building up their institutions.”
The capital outflow not only diverts funds that could be invested in local healthcare but also contributes to a “brain drain” of skilled medical professionals from the continent. “Another thing we noted was a great way we were losing a lot of our good talents. The best of talents in the health sector were going out of the continent, working in places such as India, Asia, Middle East, America, and that often was an issue,” Doherty noted.
In response to this challenge, Afreximbank launched its Health and Medical Tourism Programme in 2012 and established the Africa Medical Center of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja.
The 170-bed facility boasts state-of-the-art equipment and has received an investment of over $450 million from Afreximbank. “Afreximbank had to go where no one has gone before; Afreximbank’s leaders adhered to the dreamers,” Doherty praised.
The AMCE aims to provide healthcare services comparable to global standards, and Doherty stressed the need to build trust in local healthcare facilities and ensure access for all to stem medical tourism.
