His Royal Majesty, the IGWE, Dr. Emeka Ilouno was appointed as the Onitsha (Nigeria) Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture Committee Chairman to drive the development of a healthcare free trade zone for Anambra State. He engaged Maria Todd, CEO & founder of Mercury Advisory Group to deal with investors and interested vertical healthcare developers move the project forward.
Currently, Nigeria and many countries in Africa use medical tourism to gain rapid access to critically needed tertiary care and diagnostic testing because advanced facilities are scarce in the region. In Nigeria, more than ₦80 billion (USD $562 million) is spent on medically necessary health travel by residents and expatriates working in the region each year.
Mercury Advisory Group consultants are assisting with General Development Plan creating and programming for the project. The land title is being conveyed from the Local Government Authority (LGA), through Governor Peter Obi’s office. The project site can support a new 200-bed facility and many other ancillary health centers. Todd will remain on the project through design and construction phases and will eventually lead and/or outsourced hospital management and medical tourism expertise at the project.
Mercury Advisory Group has been engaged to work on other similar projects in the Carribbean and in Mexico, and hope to attract other projects in sub-Saharan Africa. African economic growth is outpacing the global average for the first time on account of foreign direct investment (FDI), according to World Bank, with such sub-Saharan countries as Sierra Leone, Niger and Angola leading the pack amid increased mining exports.
These countries have very little in the way of comprehensive primary care accessibility, let alone tertiary healthcare access in any abundance. the report predicts that sub-Saharan economies will have grown by an average of 4.9% in 2012 (25% for Serra Leone alone) driven by iron ore shipments. The World Bank also estimated that the FDI in the region will grow from $31 billion in 2012 to nearly $49 billion in 2014.
