21 December 2018
(Lagos): Heritage Bank Plc has announced a bold move in partnering with
AFRICANMED and the Chinese community in Nigeria to develop the country’s health
sector and reduce the rate of medical tourism by Nigerians.
Managing Director/CEO,
Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo, disclosed this at the maiden edition AFRICANMED
exhibition of top brands of medical equipment from China in Lagos recently,
said there is an urgent need to reduce the huge foreign exchange which Nigerians
spend every year on medical tourism.
He said Heritage Bank
would find it easy to provide finance for interested buyers of the medical
equipment from China because it already has a robust correspondent banking
relationship with Deutsche Bank of China and Access Bank of China. The
relationship, he said, would enable Heritage Bank to seamlessly open letters of
credit for interested buyers.
Olugbenga Awe, Group
Head, Agric and Export, Heritage Bank, who represented Sekibo, said since some
of the equipment cost millions of dollars, the bank would not expect the buyers
to tie down such heavy amount of money, adding that it will support interested
buyers with robust loans that will enable them acquire the equipment and pay
back over a period of two years.
“We are willing and
ready to support with funding as far as this equipment are concerned,” he said,
adding that the bank is working with AFRICANMED to develop a bespoke solution
that will enable prospective buyers to buy the products while the bank pays on
their behalf.
He said the recent $2.5
billion currency swap deal between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the
Chinese central bank would help as the bank would have enough funding through
that arrangement to meet the needs of interested buyers.
AFRICANMED was recently
set up in Nigeria to congregate top brands of Chinese medical equipment and
healthcare solutions provider companies focusing on the “Selection of
Intelligently made-in-China products, to serve the African people.”
Based on big data of
medical supply chain, the company will provide comprehensive online and offline
service platforms for all kinds of African medical institutions, hospitals,
specialist care, small and medium-sized distributor financing, procurement and
inventory using Nigeria as the hub of its operation on the African continent.
Also speaking, Group
Chief Executive Officer of AFRICAMED, Mrs. Rainy Liu, said the maiden edition
of the exhibition, which was like a launch, was organized to create awareness
about the company among Nigerians.
She said there is a need
for Nigerians to know that the company has come to offer the best medical
equipment and healthcare solutions from China to Nigeria and the rest of the
African continent at affordable cost.
Reporting for easykobo.com on Friday, 21 December 2018
Lagos, Nigeria.
Source: Today.ng.com