Africa seeks sustainable financing models to bridge healthcare investment gap

African nations are facing increasing pressure to secure domestic financing for healthcare systems to reduce dependence on external donor support. At the 81st United Nations General Assembly, discussions have centered on building national capacity to fund essential services, manage health priorities, and prepare for future threats, including the added financial burdens imposed by climate change.

To address the billion-dollar healthcare investment gap, blended finance models are being utilized to make specialist medical infrastructure commercially viable. A primary example is the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja, Nigeria. Developed by the African Export-Import Bank in collaboration with King’s College Hospital London, the 170-bed facility utilized a structure combining long-term development finance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with international banking partners and Nigerian commercial lenders.

This model demonstrates a pathway for deploying capital into high-risk, high-upfront-cost projects: development finance supports the construction phase, while commercial lenders provide working capital once the asset becomes operational. Such investments aim to reduce the estimated $6 billion to $10 billion Africans currently spend annually on medical treatment outside the continent.