The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority’s (NSIA) has revealed that its healthcare investment projects have saved Nigeria over $200 million in foreign exchange.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NSIA, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, in a statement yesterday highlighted the impact of the Authority’s investments in oncology, diagnostics and other specialised medical services across the country.
He said the intervention was designed to reverse Nigeria’s long-standing dependence on overseas medical treatment by building the capacity to provide quality healthcare services locally.
According to Umar-Sadiq, the NSIA’s healthcare strategy has already produced measurable results, with its flagship MedServe-LUTH Cancer Centre (MLCC) in Lagos providing more than 25,000 radiotherapy sessions and 10,000 chemotherapy treatments to about 15,000 unique patients since inception.
The centre, commissioned in May 2019, became the first oncology centre in Nigeria to offer 3D Conformal Radiotherapy and now has the largest concentration of radiotherapy equipment in West Africa.
Umar-Sadiq said the quality and affordability of services at the centre had also resulted in cases of ‘reversed medical tourism’, with Nigerians previously receiving treatment abroad being referred back to Nigeria.
He said ‘Treatment at the centre could cost less than half the price of comparable treatment overseas, making local specialised care more accessible while retaining scarce foreign exchange within the Nigerian economy with an overall foreign exchange savings of over $200m’
The NSIA boss said the importance of domestic healthcare capacity became particularly clear during the COVID-19 pandemic, when international travel restrictions prevented many Nigerians from accessing treatment abroad.
‘At a critical moment for patients requiring specialised care, MLCC provided continuity of advanced cancer treatment within Nigeria,’ he said.
The Authority has also expanded its healthcare intervention beyond Lagos through the MedServe Kano Diagnostic Centre and MedServe Umuahia Diagnostic Centre.
Umar-Sadiq disclosed that more than 410,000 patients had accessed pathology and radiology services through the two centres by December 2025.
He said the expansion had helped improve access to advanced diagnostics, facilitate earlier disease detection and support better clinical decision-making in areas where such services were previously limited.
But the NSIA is now preparing for a much bigger healthcare expansion.
Umar-Sadiq said MedServe was developing a network across 13 states, comprising 13 new diagnostic centres, three additional oncology centres and three cardiac catheterisation laboratories.
The expansion will cover major urban centres, including Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory and Kaduna, as well as states such as Oyo, Sokoto, Delta and Yobe.