IN the 1960s, Nigeria was a medical tourism destination with the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, offering a range of specialised health care
The Covid-19 emergency has focused minds on the urgent need for improved healthcare across Africa, aligning unprecedented opportunity for positive social impact with competitive returns.
Image suppliedIn Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy at $495bn, public spending on healthcare amounts to just 3.75% of GDP, compared with 4.8% in Kenya, 8.11% in South Africa and 13.42% in Sierra Leone. Outside of the continent, Brazil spends 9.47% and the United States 17%, based on latest available figures from the World Bank.
A massive $82bn investment in healthcare real estate assets ands an additional 386,000 additional beds are required to bring Nigeria in line with the worldwide average of 2.7 beds per 1,000 people, according to a Knight Frank’ report. The country needs an additional 4,000 beds and an investment of $870m just to keep up with its 2019 bed ratio, given population growth. With 206-million people, Nigeria’s population is forecast by the United Nations to almost double by 20