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UBA UNVEILS DIASPORA HEALTHCARE INVESTMENT PLATFORM FOR NIGERIAN-AMERICAN PHYSICIANS AT ANPA SYMPOSIUM
By Prince Benson Davies
United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has outlined a new pathway for Nigerian medical professionals in the diaspora to channel capital into Nigeria’s healthcare sector, unveiling its diaspora healthcare investment proposition at the 2026 ANPA Carolinas Symposium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The symposium, organised annually by the South Carolina and North Carolina Chapters of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA), brought together more than 170 physicians and healthcare experts for discussions on medical and scientific issues affecting communities across North America, the Caribbean, and Africa, with a focus on people of Nigerian descent.
Speaking at the event, UBA’s Head of Diaspora Banking, Anant Rao, urged the medical community to move beyond remittances and take a more structured role in building healthcare institutions back home. He noted that the financial infrastructure to link diaspora earnings to long-term impact in Nigeria’s health sector has now been put in place.
“The financial infrastructure required to connect your success abroad to sustainable institutional impact at home has not been intentionally designed for diaspora healthcare investors until now,” Rao said.
During his presentation, Rao introduced the ANPA–UBA Diaspora Healthcare Investment Platform, a professionally managed vehicle aimed at directing diaspora capital into specialist hospitals, diagnostic centres, telemedicine infrastructure, and medical training institutions across Nigeria.
“Every dollar invested delivers a dual return — creating value for investors while contributing meaningfully to Nigeria’s healthcare future. We now have the regulatory framework, banking infrastructure, governance structures, and institutional commitment to make this possible,” he added.
Under the proposed structure, UBA will act as custodian and structuring bank, while United Capital Asset Management, one of Nigeria’s leading asset managers with over ₦1.2 trillion in assets under management, will serve as fund manager.
To deepen collaboration with the Nigerian-American medical community, Rao proposed a Memorandum of Understanding between UBA and the two ANPA chapters. The partnership would be built around six strategic pillars: preferred banking offerings for ANPA members, quarterly financial education sessions, the joint Healthcare Infrastructure Fund, a dedicated ANPA Wealth and Legacy Desk, access to group-rate family healthcare plans through Avon HMO, and a UBA co-matching contribution framework to support qualifying impact vehicles under the Pearl Endowment Fund.
The platform extends UBA’s existing diaspora services, which include Non-Resident Nigerian accounts in multiple currencies, fixed-income and dollar-denominated investments through United Capital, elder-care trust solutions under the Homeland Anchor Care Trust programme with Avon HMO, and private wealth management for senior diaspora professionals.
The unveiling at the 2026 ANPA Carolinas Symposium highlights UBA’s ongoing effort to position diaspora engagement as a driver of healthcare development. By linking diaspora expertise and capital to Nigeria’s health infrastructure needs, the Bank aims to support more sustainable investment flows that can strengthen service delivery and expand access across the country.
