Afreximbank Partners with Nigeria’s BOI for $75M Healthcare Manufacturing Initiative
Nigeria’s healthcare manufacturing sector received a significant boost as the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) entered into a $75 million financing arrangement with the Bank of Industry (BOI).
The partnership aims to strengthen domestic production capabilities across Nigeria’s medical and pharmaceutical industries.
The financing agreement was formalized during Thursday’s launch ceremony of the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja, marking a strategic step toward enhancing local healthcare manufacturing under Nigeria’s Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC).
BOI’s Managing Director and CEO, Olasupo Olusi, executed the agreement alongside Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade and Export Development at Afreximbank. The Nigerian government was represented by Abdu Mukhtar, PVAC’s National Coordinator.
The $75 million facility will enable BOI to provide financial support to qualifying small and medium enterprises engaged in the domestic manufacturing of:
- Pharmaceutical products
- Medical diagnostic equipment
- Healthcare consumables
- Medical technology solutions
- Various medical devices
These sectors align with the priorities established under the PVAC framework, which represents President Bola Tinubu’s flagship healthcare sector reform initiative.
The Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain serves as a comprehensive strategy to transform Nigeria’s medical sector by emphasizing local production and reducing import dependency. The program includes strategic investments in infrastructure development, manufacturing expansion, and human resource enhancement throughout the healthcare ecosystem.
PVAC operates within Nigeria’s broader health sector transformation blueprint, which prioritizes improved governance structures, enhanced public health outcomes, and strengthened healthcare security and resilience.
In addition to the BOI partnership, Afreximbank executed a separate financing term sheet involving its equity investment arm, the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), and MINA Holdings. This arrangement marks Afreximbank Group’s first venture capital engagement in pharmaceutical development and commercialization, with a particular focus on sickle cell disease treatment—a condition that accounts for two-thirds of global cases in Africa.
The launch event also featured the signing of preliminary agreements between Afreximbank and King’s College London to establish nursing and medical education programs under the AMCE framework. This collaboration aims to enhance local capacity for advanced healthcare training and research.
