Nigeria has secured $5.5 billion in private sector investment to bolster its health sector, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, announced on Sunday.
In a statement shared via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Prof. Pate credited the achievement to the "innovative leadership" of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, under whose direction 22 new large-scale health sector manufacturing projects have been initiated.
The minister also disclosed that the Federal Government has signed an agreement with the Empower School of Health, Geneva, to establish Empower Academy Nigeria — poised to become Africa’s premier pharmaceutical manufacturing training institute. The new academy will have the capacity to train and upskill up to 2,000 Nigerian professionals annually.
“Alongside these investments, Nigeria recently secured €1 billion from the European Investment Bank and an additional $1 billion from AfreximBank to support localisation of the health sector value chain," Prof. Pate said.
According to him, Empower Academy Nigeria will focus on fostering expertise in the production of pharmaceutical excipients, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and advanced dosage forms such as inhalers, extended-release medications, and dermatological patches.
The academy will also offer cutting-edge training in process engineering, regulatory compliance, quality control, and environmental monitoring, among other critical disciplines.
Supported by world-class facilities and advanced equipment, Empower Academy Nigeria will deliver certification courses in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and the International Federation of Pharmacists.
Prof. Pate emphasized that the initiative forms part of the government’s broader strategy to strengthen Nigeria’s health infrastructure and build a robust pharmaceutical manufacturing workforce.
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