ENUGU, Nigeria – Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah has toured the newly completed Enugu International Hospital ahead of its inauguration, saying the facility is positioned to make the state a major medical tourism destination in Africa.
Mbah said the hospital, located on Rangers Avenue in Independence Layout, Enugu, had been equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and was designed to help reduce Nigerians’ reliance on overseas treatment.
Speaking to journalists after a pre-launch walkthrough on Thursday, the governor said the facility was part of his administration’s deliberate plan to position Enugu as a medical tourism hub and capture a share of the multibillion-dollar global market.
“We cannot wait to welcome the world to Enugu,” Mbah said, adding that achieving the ambition required both world-class infrastructure and highly skilled medical professionals.
According to Okay News, the governor said the hospital would expand access to advanced diagnostic and therapeutic services, including oncology care, which he said remained limited in Nigeria.
Mbah noted that many Nigerians currently travel to countries including India, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom for specialised medical treatment. He said the new facility would offer comparable services domestically while helping patients avoid the high costs associated with overseas medical care.
He also disclosed that the hospital had attracted significant interest from Nigerian healthcare professionals in the diaspora who were considering returning to the country to practise and contribute to the health sector.
The governor said the facility would also incorporate telemedicine, digital healthcare and electronic medical practices, allowing patients to access expertise from medical professionals around the world.
Mbah said the hospital formed part of his administration’s broader healthcare investment strategy, spanning primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary care. He linked the investment to his government’s wider economic ambition of growing Enugu State’s economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion.
He said a strong healthcare system was also essential to attracting investors, who would want assurances about security and access to quality medical care.
The hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Sam Agwu, said the facility had earmarked six specialty centres to provide advanced medical services.
Agwu said the Cancer Centre would provide medical, surgical and nuclear medicine diagnostics and therapeutics, while the Heart and Vascular Centre of Excellence would offer cardiology consultations, diagnostics and open-heart surgery, among other services.
