Zambia Unveils US$2 billion Plan to Turn Lusaka Into Health Tourism Hub

Zambia is planning a US$2 billion Medical City in Lusaka that the Government says could transform the country into a regional destination for specialist healthcare and reduce the need for Zambians to seek complex treatment abroad.

The Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UAE-based DIHAD Sustainable Project Management L.L.C for the proposed development, with Health Minister Professor Roma Chilengi signing on behalf of Zambia at the UAE-Zambia Business Forum in Abu Dhabi.

The agreement was signed in the presence of President Hakainde Hichilema.

Planned for Lusaka's Airport City, the Medical City is expected to bring together specialist hospitals, medical training, research, hospitality and commercial facilities in one development.

At the centre of the project will be a National Paediatric Cardiac Centre and a National Renal Transplant and Kidney Disease Centre.

The development is also expected to expand Zambia's oncology capacity, including cancer diagnostics and research, while introducing services such as robotic surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, maternal and child health and rehabilitation.

A hospital, university and specialist training school are also planned as part of the project.

The wider Medical City would include hotels, hotel apartments, offices, shops, a convention centre, an auditorium, wellness and sports facilities, parks and residential areas.

For Zambia, the ambition goes beyond healthcare.

The Government says the project is intended to keep more Zambian patients and their families from spending money on treatment abroad while attracting patients from other countries to Zambia.

That could create a new stream of economic activity around healthcare, tourism and hospitality.

The project is also being linked to the Government's Grow Zambia Agenda and its target of attracting five million tourist arrivals annually.

According to the Ministry of Health, the Medical City is expected to create employment in construction, healthcare and hospitality while attracting foreign investment.

But the US$2 billion figure represents the scale of the proposed development rather than money already invested.

Under the MoU, DIHAD will work with a multi-sectoral Government team on planning, design and management, as well as identifying and selecting the partners and investors required to develop the Medical City.

The Ministry says the MoU carries no financial commitment for the Zambian Government.

The hospital and medical training facilities are expected to be prioritised so that Zambians can begin benefiting from the project before the wider development is completed.

In the meantime, DIHAD will facilitate access to treatment in the UAE for Zambian patients through what the Ministry describes as competitively priced packages.

If realised, the Medical City would represent a significant shift in Zambia's approach to specialist healthcare, from sending patients abroad for treatment to positioning Lusaka as a place where patients from across the region could come for care.

It would also place medical training and specialist skills at the centre of that ambition, with the planned university and training school intended to help build Zambia's own pool of healthcare specialists.