By Esther Olaoluwa |
First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has committed ₦20 billion to financing private healthcare businesses in Nigeria as part of efforts to expand access to long-term capital and strengthen healthcare delivery across the country.
The bank announced the 20 billion Healthcare Fund at its inaugural healthcare summit in Lagos, saying the financing would support businesses across different segments of the healthcare value chain.
The fund will target hospitals and clinics, diagnostic centres, pharmaceutical companies, pharmacies, maternity homes and other healthcare enterprises.
According to FCMB, the financing will support business expansion, medical equipment acquisition, infrastructure development, working capital and technology investments.
FCMB Targets Healthcare Financing Gap
Speaking at the summit, FCMB Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Yemisi Edun, said access to affordable and long-term financing was important to building a stronger healthcare system.
Her remarks were delivered by the bank’s Executive Director, Corporate Services and Service Management, Felicia Obozuwa.
“Healthcare is a social imperative and an economic priority,” Edun said.
“Building a strong healthcare system requires capital that is patient, affordable and long-term.”
The bank said the fund would form part of a wider healthcare financing offering that combines lending with advisory support and partnerships to help healthcare businesses strengthen their operations and attract additional capital.
The initiative comes amid efforts to expand Nigeria’s healthcare capacity and increase local production of medicines and medical devices.
The Federal Government is targeting local production of 70 per cent of medicines and medical devices by 2030 under its Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain.
HFN Highlights Financing Challenges
President of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Njide Ndili, said access to finance remains a major challenge for private healthcare operators, particularly small and medium-sized businesses.
Ndili pointed to HFN’s partnership with the PharmAccess Medical Credit Fund, saying the experience showed that healthcare businesses could achieve strong repayment performance when financing was combined with technical support, capacity building and quality standards.
HFN will work with FCMB to develop a framework for pre-qualifying healthcare facilities and helping businesses become investment-ready, according to information presented at the summit.
The federation has more than 400 member organisations and 4,000 professionals.
The partnership is also expected to help address some of the challenges lenders face when financing healthcare businesses, including weak governance structures, inadequate financial reporting, limited management capacity and unclear growth plans.
Government Seeks More Private Investment
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, said government funding for healthcare had increased in recent years but stressed the need for greater mobilisation of private and public capital.
According to him, more than ₦339 billion has been disbursed through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund over the past 12 years, including ₦235 billion in the last three years under the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative.
He added that a further ₦32.9 billion had recently been disbursed to support more than 8,300 primary healthcare centres, with plans to expand coverage to about 13,000 facilities nationwide.
Salako urged healthcare operators to strengthen corporate governance, improve financial reporting and explore blended-finance structures to fund expansion.
The summit also examined investment opportunities in primary healthcare, diagnostics, local pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical equipment, digital health and healthcare infrastructure.
FCMB said its healthcare financing initiative is designed to support businesses across the healthcare value chain as they expand capacity, improve service delivery and contribute to the development of Nigeria’s healthcare sector.
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