Ceremony marks formal breaking of ground for the construction of African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in partnership with King’s

In March this year, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust signed an agreement (via its subsidiary, King’s Commercial Services) for the establishment of the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE).

The ground breaking ceremony for the new centre took place on 7 December 2021, and was presided over by H.E. President Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria and attended by dignitaries and other esteemed guests including Dr Osagie Ehanire, Honourable Minister of Health of Nigeria.

The event marked an important milestone in a journey that began several years ago, when Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Afreximbank was treated as a patient at King’s under the care of Professor Ghulam Mufti, Professor of Heamato-Oncology and his team.

The Centre in Abuja, Nigeria aims to provide world-class healthcare across the continent, and the Centre is expected to open and start treating patients in early 2024.

The clinical areas the centre will specialise in are Cardiology, Haematology and Oncology. This facility and our partnership is set to make a positive and decisive impact on non-communicable disease care across Nigeria and West Africa.

King’s will support the development of the AMCE by providing clinical expertise and protocols, assurance on quality, guidance on facility and service set-up, as well as the recruitment to key posts and provision of education and training. We are working collaboratively with The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester on Oncology aspects of the new facility. The Christie is the largest single site cancer centre in Europe, and this partnership brings two outstanding NHS organisations together to support the establishment of the facility.

Sir Hugh Taylor, Chairman of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“At King’s we have a long history of providing specialist healthcare locally, nationally and internationally. We are proud to be extending our clinical expertise in services such as haematology and cardiology to benefit the people of Nigeria, and Africa more generally.”

Professor Anil Dhawan, Executive Medical Director of King’s Commercial Services said:

“We are delighted to expand our overseas footprint of healthcare facilities in Nigeria, our first project in Africa, to provide the best care to the people of the continent. We aim to replicate NHS standards of patient care with safety and quality at the heart of the new facility, whilst also assisting with rapid transfer of research and innovation in healthcare to the African continent.”

King’s work overseas – via King’s Commercial Services – helps the Trust generate funds which are invested back into the Trust for the benefit of patients, and staff.

H.E. President Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria Presides over auspicious occasion.