Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening diaspora engagement, advancing healthcare development in Nigeria through the introduction of its healthcare investment proposition to the Nigerian-American medical community at the 2026 ANPA Carolinas Symposium held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The annual symposium, organized by the South Carolina and North Carolina chapters of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA), gathered more than 170 physicians and healthcare professionals to discuss medical and scientific issues affecting communities across North America, the Caribbean, and Africa.
Addressing participants at the event, UBA’s Head of Diaspora Banking, Anant Rao, highlighted the urgent need for structured diaspora investments in Nigeria’s healthcare sector, encouraging Nigerian professionals abroad to move beyond remittances and contribute to long-term healthcare institution building.
Rao introduced the ANPA–UBA Diaspora Healthcare Investment Platform, a professionally managed investment initiative designed to channel diaspora capital into specialist hospitals, diagnostic centres, telemedicine infrastructure, and medical training institutions throughout Nigeria.
According to him, the platform provides investors with an opportunity to achieve financial returns while also contributing meaningfully to the future of Nigeria’s healthcare system.
He explained that Nigeria now possesses the regulatory framework, governance structure, and banking infrastructure required to support sustainable diaspora healthcare investments.
Under the proposed arrangement, UBA will act as custodian and structuring bank, while United Capital Asset Management, one of Nigeria’s leading asset management firms with over ₦1.2 trillion in assets under management, will serve as fund manager.
To further deepen collaboration with Nigerian-American healthcare professionals, Rao also proposed a Memorandum of Understanding between UBA and the two ANPA chapters. The proposed partnership will focus on six strategic areas, including specialised banking services for ANPA members, quarterly financial literacy programmes, the joint Healthcare Infrastructure Fund, a dedicated ANPA Wealth and Legacy Desk, access to family healthcare plans through Avon HMO, and a co-matching contribution framework supporting qualifying impact projects under the Pearl Endowment Fund.
The initiative expands UBA’s growing diaspora banking portfolio, which already includes Non-Resident Nigerian accounts in multiple currencies, dollar-denominated investment solutions through United Capital Plc, elder-care trust services under the Homeland Anchor Care Trust programme in partnership with Avon HMO, and tailored private wealth management services for diaspora professionals.
The 2026 ANPA Carolinas Symposium marks another major step in UBA’s diaspora engagement strategy and reinforces the bank’s belief that diaspora capital can accelerate healthcare and infrastructure development across Africa.
