Nigerian banker Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede to donate $5 million to healthcare initiatives

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The Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, a public-sector focused philanthropic organization founded by Nigerian multimillionaire Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and his wife, Ofovwe, has donated N2.3 billion ($5 million) towards enhancing healthcare in Africa and fostering actions that contribute to beneficial outcomes for Africans.

Aig-Imoukhuede, who made the announcement during the recent Africa-UK Health Summit in London, said the funds would be channeled towards supporting the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria’s (PSHAN) ground-breaking initiative – the Adopt a Healthcare Facility Program (ADHFP) – which seeks to establish one world-class primary healthcare in each of the 774 local governments in Nigeria, providing access to affordable primary healthcare.

Established in 2010 by Nigerian billionaires Aliko Dangote, Jim Ovia, Aig-Imoukhuede, and other business leaders, the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria is a business-led platform that mobilizes the private sector’s resources and capabilities and leverages same to support the improvement of Nigeria’s healthcare system. 

According to Aig-Imoukhuede, the gift is intended to ensure healthcare centers have the equipment, staff, and medicine to deliver complete community services for five years. 

At the summit, Aig-Imoukhuede presented a speech titled, “Health Financing and Role of Business.” In his remarks, he noted that the per capita spending by African governments on healthcare needed to be increased to address Africa’s complex and peculiar healthcare challenges. 

The Africa-UK Health Summit is an annual gathering of important stakeholders to foster debate and collaboration in order to address Africa’s serious health concerns.

Aig-Imoukhuede, 56, is a former CEO of Access Bank, Nigeria’s largest bank by asset base.

In 2002, he and his business partner Herbert Wigwe famously acquired Access Bank, a small commercial bank, after cutting their teeth as senior management staff at Guaranty Trust Bank.

Over the past two decades, they have built it into one of the largest financial institutions in Africa.

Aig-Imoukhuede is still a significant shareholder in Access Corporation, the new parent company of Access Bank. His shares are held through Tengen, the Lagos-based single-family office that manages his wealth, and that of his partner, Wigwe.