The African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE), Abuja, is set to participate in the 22nd Akwaaba African Travel Market in Lagos, bringing the growing intersection between healthcare, tourism and regional connectivity into focus at one of West Africa’s major travel exhibitions.
The three-day event is scheduled to commence on September 13, 2026, at Eko Hotel & Suites, Lagos, with government officials, tourism practitioners, travel professionals and other stakeholders from across Africa and beyond expected to attend.
The 22nd Akwaaba African Travel Market has over the years promoted Nigeria and Africa as tourism destinations while championing stronger integration and collaboration among African countries.
The participation of AMCE Abuja is expected to broaden that conversation by highlighting the emerging role of specialised healthcare in intra-African travel and the potential of Nigeria to become a destination for medical tourism.
The African Medical Centre of Excellence is a state-of-the-art tertiary medical city developed by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in clinical partnership with King’s College Hospital, London.
Designed to bridge critical healthcare gaps across Africa, AMCE Abuja provides specialised medical services in oncology, haematology, cardiovascular care, general surgery and other medical and surgical services.
The centre also serves as a hub for medical research and training, creating an integrated platform that combines patient care with the development and transfer of medical knowledge.
AMCE Abuja currently operates as a 170-bed specialist hospital and is being implemented in four phases over five years. The facility is expected to expand eventually to 500 beds, with the capacity to serve more than 200,000 patients in Nigeria and an additional 150,000 patients from neighbouring West African countries within its first five years of operation.
Developed with the support of Afreximbank and in partnership with King’s College Hospital London, the medical centre offers highly skilled, experienced and internationally trained medical professionals, advanced treatment options and a strong focus on patient-centred care.
The institution’s model is aimed at making high-quality specialist healthcare more accessible to patients across Africa while reducing the need for Africans to travel outside the continent for complex medical treatment.
AMCE’s presence at Akwaaba is therefore expected to provide an opportunity to engage travel and tourism operators on the possibilities around medical travel, healthcare-related mobility and the development of new tourism products that combine specialised medical services with hospitality and destination experiences.
The centre’s participation also comes as African countries increasingly explore ways to retain healthcare spending within the continent by strengthening local medical infrastructure and creating centres capable of attracting patients from neighbouring countries.
AMCE says its goal is to make a decisive impact on non-communicable disease care in Global Africa by providing world-class clinical services complemented by education and research.
Beyond its healthcare mandate, the centre’s regional focus aligns with Akwaaba’s broader objective of connecting African markets and encouraging greater movement of people, services and investment across the continent.
As tourism stakeholders gather in Lagos, AMCE Abuja is expected to showcase how improved healthcare infrastructure can become part of Africa’s wider tourism and connectivity ecosystem—connecting patients to specialised care, professionals to international expertise and countries to new opportunities for healthcare investment and collaboration.
