The proposed five speciality hospitals and one intravenous fluid facility across the country are expected to generate roughly N207 billion for the federal government.
The project will be spread across six geopolitical zones and will be built using a design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) paradigm.
The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) said that talks with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Medical Service Limited (NMSL) on the project have progressed.
The projects are proposed to run for a 20-year concession period.
Two of the six pilot projects have received outline business case (OBC) certificates, while the OBCs for the other four are still being completed.
Multi-specialist hospitals in Abuja and Port Harcourt are the two projects that have gained OBC certificates.
While the Abuja project is expected to generate N91.7 billion in total revenue over the course of the 20-year concession period, the Port Harcourt project is expected to generate N115.5 billion.
Both hospitals will have 100 beds and provide services such as cardiology, orthopaedics, pulmonology, cerebrovascular surgery, nephrology, cancer, chemotherapy, and assisted reproduction.
Sigrun Partners, the NMSL’s financial advisors on the planned projects, paid a courtesy visit to the commission and were greeted by Acting Director-General Michael Ohiani.
During the meeting, Ohiani stated that the idea was a positive step forward. He thought they’d be useful in combating the problem of medical tourism.
He intimated that the projects were only a test run for what may be accomplished if they were successful.
“We’re working with NNPC management on six projects, five of which are specialist hospitals and one intravenous fluid facility,” he stated.
“We were delighted when the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) approached us to say that they wanted to illustrate how medical facilities may be administered through PPPs, and that they had chosen five states in the Federation to serve as pilots.
The DG emphasized that the ICRC was committed to completing the projects on time, noting that “the initiatives will considerably improve healthcare services in Nigeria, reducing the need for medical tourism among Nigeria’s approximately 200 million people.”
Gordon Gofwan, Sigrun Partners’ Nigerian representative, told the Commission that the company was dedicated to supporting PPP initiatives in Nigeria.
He stated that Nigeria had no alternative but to rely on PPPs for its growth and that the country was willing to work with the Commission to achieve its goals.
“Partners from Madrid are here in Nigeria, and they felt it was vital to see a key player, the ICRC, which is why we are here today.”
“We believe that PPPs will drive the country’s future since fiscal space is limited and government capacity to fund projects will be severely taxed, therefore if we are to accomplish our development goals, PPP will be unavoidable.”
