News
Nigeria’s Healthcare Sector Requires Disruptive Innovative Approach- PHN
Nigeria’s healthcare sector has received billions in grants; however, the inadequacy of current health programs and stagnated results necessitates bold and disruptive innovative approaches to transform the sector.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PHN) Dr. Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, made the remark during a presentation at the just concluded Nigeria Innovation Summit (NIS) in Lagos, adding that the epidemiological transition and population growth projected in the country exacerbate the need for scalability of effective innovative approaches within the health sector.
He said that the state of health was characterised by poor outcomes, poor quality and a lack of protection from financial risk which attracted the interest of concerned Nigeria who set up PHN to mobilizes private sector to complement government’s efforts in accelerating improvement in health outcomes by focusing on innovation, impact investments, advocacy and public-private partnerships.
Interventions by PHN, Dr. Umar-Sadiq said have saved at least one million lives of women and children in Nigeria.
“The sector requires innovations that address socio-economic challenges, such as poverty and health, also drive economic growth. In the 70s and 80s, Indonesia had a dependency ratio of about 86.84. Through several interventions focused on reducing the total fertility rate in the country, the dependency ratio reduced to 51.31 in 2010. It is expected that between 1980 and 2020, Indonesia’s dependency ratio will have reduced by 41%. Smaller dependency ratios increases the potential for economic growth (on average a 1 point reduction contributes 0.115% to economic growth). This is due to the fact that there is a higher percentage of the population in the workforce.
“Nigeria started out with a similar dependency ratio as Indonesia in the 1980s. However, our dependency ratio is projected to decrease by only 3% by 2020. This is because we have high infant and child mortality (69/1000 and 128/1000 respectively) and a high total fertility rate (6 children per woman). This limits the opportunity for economic growth. Health innovations centered around infant and child mortality as well as family planning could help Nigeria achieve the same results as Indonesia,” he said.
“Innovations from around the world have addressed similar health system challenges, leading to drastic improvement in quality, efficiency, accessibility and affordability of care.
Dr. Umar-Sadiq while charging startups present at the Summit to plug into the opportunities in the sector, added that, in recent times, a number of African countries have ridden a wave of locally appropriate innovations to accelerate progress in the health related MDGs.
“There has been little traction in harnessing these needed bold innovations in health for the Nigerian health market due to several constraints: visibility, capacity, fragmentation and lack of data.
He made case for startups in the healthcare system, stating that they require visibility; “visibility increases awareness of promising new innovations and approaches to address health challenges. Investors have little visibility on compelling viable health innovations.
“Poor capacity and support system for health innovators – they lack access to capital, business and financial management and basic business startup support / incubation needed to take ideas through to market. Investors and health innovators lack the convergence platforms that create market and technical linkages as well as COPs and scalable platforms for sustainable impact and limited evidence based knowledge products and data to facilitates the development and dissemination of focused insights and new evidence about innovations and their strategies to scale and replicate”.
He said that PHN’s theory of change requires rethinking the way health sector partnerships and innovations are curated for impact. The Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PHN) led by business leaders in Nigeria including Alhaji Aliko Dangote therefore embraces the need to focus on mobilizing the private sector to advance health outcomes through innovation and partnerships.
The Private Sector Health Alliance led a coalition of partners to create the Nigeria Health Innovation Marketplace (NHIM) focuses on four inter-related core objectives: Identify promising innovations; incubate and create linkages that will enable scale; convergence platform around health innovation and invest for impact in selected opportunities.
NHIM covers a plethora of components including a health innovaton hub, an accelerator program and healthcare challenges and has since curated over 42 innovations through the business development boot camp representing four archetypes of healthcare innovations.
The Nigeria Innovation Summit, a brainchild of Emerging Media, also attracted participants delegates from the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria; Anambra State Government; Kaduna State; Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment; UNIDO/NIRP; Oxford Business Group; British High Commission; University of Lagos; Federal University of Technology, Owerri; Caleb University; Crescent University; Nasarawa State University; Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, amongst others.
National Population Commission (NPC) has commenced the nationwide digital registration of births and deaths under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system to strengthen legal identity management and improve demographic data.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lokoja on Tuesday, Mr Afolabi Yori, federal commissioner representing Kogi, said the initiative became operational nationwide on July 1, through the VitalReg platform.
Yori described the development as a landmark in Nigeria’s civil registration system, noting that it would modernise birth and death registration through a technology-driven platform that meets international standards.
He said the digital platform would improve service delivery, strengthen data integrity and ensure that every birth and death occurring in Nigeria was accurately documented and securely stored.
According to him, civil registration is more than an administrative process, as it provides reliable statistics that support public policy formulation, resource allocation and national development planning.
“Nigeria records an estimated five million births annually, yet millions of births and deaths remain unregistered.
“Birth registration coverage currently stands at about 57 per cent nationwide, while death registration remains below 20 per cent,” he said.
The commissioner said that the commission had established 4,011 functional registration centres across the country’s 774 local government areas and was working to expand the number to about 8,000.
He added that the commission was strengthening collaboration with stakeholders to improve the capacity of registration personnel and ensure prompt documentation of vital events through the VitalReg platform.
Yori said the platform would provide faster registration services, 24-hour online access, digital certificate issuance where applicable, and reduce paperwork, waiting time and unnecessary travel.
He disclosed that the platform was being operated under a Public-Private Partnership with Barnks-forte Technologies Ltd. as the commission’s technical partner to ensure system availability, cybersecurity and continuous technological improvement.
He called on parents, healthcare institutions, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations, development partners and the media to support the initiative by encouraging the prompt registration of births and deaths.
Earlier, Samuel Omonakpeme, director in Kogi, NPC State, described the commencement of the digital registration system as another milestone in efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system.
Omonakpeme stated that the initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s digital transformation agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 16.9, which seeks to provide legal identity for all.
He appreciated the Federal Government, the leadership of the commission, UNICEF and other development partners for supporting the implementation of the initiative.
The state director also urged parents, guardians, health institutions, community leaders, religious organisations and the media to mobilise public support for the timely registration of all births and deaths.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that ICT personnel of the commission, led by Ehimoni Kolawole, conducted a live demonstration of the digital birth registration process using the VitalReg platform.
The demonstration showed that the registration process captures the biodata of both parents, while at least one parent must possess a valid National Identification Number (NIN) to complete the registration of a newborn.
Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) has alerted its customers to a fraudulent message circulating on social media, falsely claiming that electricity consumers can receive an additional 20 per cent bonus units when recharging their prepaid meters through unofficial channels.
In a statement issued by the company’s management on Monday, YEDC described the claim as false and urged customers to disregard the misleading information, stressing that it did not originate from the company.
According to the statement, YEDC does not offer bonus electricity units through individuals, agents, personal bank accounts, phone numbers, or social media contacts.
The company advised customers to purchase electricity tokens only through approved cashless payment platforms, including the YEDC Pay App, OPay, Interswitch, and other authorised vending channels, or to visit the nearest YEDC office for assistance.
YEDC also cautioned customers against sharing their meter details or personal information, or making payments to unauthorised persons claiming to represent the company.
The company further urged customers to rely exclusively on information disseminated through its official communication channels to avoid falling victim to fraud.
The management thanked customers for their continued cooperation and reaffirmed its commitment to serving them.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that two foreign currency accounts opened in connection with the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) have remained inactive since their creation, with no funds deposited and no transactions recorded.
The revelation emerged on Monday during the ongoing investigation by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee probing the circumstances surrounding the establishment and operations of the council.
Lawmakers are investigating allegations that the PFIPC was created and operated without a valid legal framework and outside the established procedures required for government agencies and institutions.
Appearing before the committee, representatives of both the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) distanced their institutions from the establishment of the council.
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation stated that it neither created the council nor possessed the constitutional authority to establish federal agencies.
Representing the office, officials explained that the OHCSF is only responsible for approving administrative structures of government agencies after all necessary requirements have been fulfilled.
According to the office, records showed that the council submitted a request on August 6, 2025, seeking approval for its organisational structure.
However, the application was not approved because the required supporting documents were not attached.
The committee heard that despite the rejection of the request, officials linked to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC)/PFIPC later appeared during the 2025 manpower budget defence exercise and sought approval for staffing and recruitment arrangements.
The office disclosed that the council informed government officials that its activities were being carried out largely through personnel seconded or deployed from other institutions.
Lawmakers were told that the council requested approval for a total of 314 positions. The figure consisted of 14 existing officers and an additional 300 proposed positions.
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service further revealed that concerns later arose regarding documents presented by the council as evidence of its legal backing.
Officials told the committee that upon examination, the documents failed to display essential features expected of an enabling law or valid legal instrument establishing a government body.
Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, head of the Civil Service of the Federation, also rejected claims that her office deployed civil servants to work for the council.
She maintained that the office did not assign personnel to the body and did not provide office accommodation for its operations.
According to her, matters relating to the creation, supervision and oversight of government agencies fall under the responsibilities of other relevant institutions, including the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria also provided details regarding accounts linked to the council.Nigerian current events
Hamisu Abdullahi, director at the apex bank, who represented the CBN Governor before the committee, explained that the bank opened two foreign currency accounts following a formal request from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
He told lawmakers that the request was received on July 30, 2025, and instructed the bank to create a United States dollar domiciliary account and a Pound Sterling domiciliary account.
Abdullahi stressed that the CBN only opens accounts for government agencies after receiving official authorisation from the Accountant-General’s office.
However, he disclosed that the accounts never became operational because the council failed to provide authorised signatories required for activation.
As a result, both accounts remained dormant from the day they were opened.
He informed the committee that neither account had received deposits nor processed withdrawals. The accounts also recorded no foreign exchange allocations, remittances, inflows or outflows.Governor election news
According to him, the balances in both accounts remain at zero.
The CBN official further stated that the council did not engage directly with the apex bank regarding the management or operation of the accounts after they were created.
Following the submissions, members of the committee demanded more information as part of efforts to determine the full scope of the council’s activities.
Hon. Abdulmalik Danga, chairman of the committee, directed the Central Bank to submit comprehensive records relating to both the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
The committee requested details covering the opening of the accounts, their operational history and any information connected to related banking activities.
Lawmakers also instructed the CBN to work with commercial banks to identify and provide records of any accounts linked to the entities under investigation.
However, the committee is expected to continue its hearings as more government agencies and officials appear before lawmakers to provide explanations on the controversial council and the circumstances surrounding its operations.
NPC Opens Nationwide Digital Birth, Death Registration Platform
FG Launches C.L.I.C.K.D., Consumer Credit Scheme for Tech Devices
Airtel Nigeria Expands Retail Footprint to Strengthen Customer Access Nationwide
Ovaloop Technologies Unveils Digital Tools to Formalize SMEs Operations Across Africa
Kaspersky Survey Highlights the Need for Smartphone Security
NRC, Ponzi Scheme Collapses Resulting Loss of Billions of Naira
NASENI Moves to Digitize CCB’s 5m Assets Declaration and Operations
Lebara Nigeria Launches Lebara Play, Africa’s First Telecom-Owned Micro-Drama Platform
CANAL+ Partners Samsung to Pre-Load DStv Stream on New Samsung TVs In Nigeria, Other African Countries
Tokenization, Blockchain Technology will Transform Financial Institutions – IMF
News3 days agoAdebutu, PDP Chieftain Accuses Nigerian Governors of Embezzling LG Allocations
E-Financial3 days agoAccess Holdings Sells 7.44% Stake in Ghana Unit
E-Financial3 days agoNDIC Urges Youths to Shun Ponzi Schemes, Embrace Savings
News3 days agoNIMASA Unveils Accelerator Scheme to Drive Innovation, Sustainable Growth
E-Business3 days agoSERAP to Sue NASS over Bill Empowering NDPC to Regulate Social Media
E-Financial3 days agoNRS Issues July 31 Deadline for e-Invoicing Compliance
News3 days agoICPC Secures Final Forfeiture of N941m Linked to IPPIS Fraud
News3 days agoeBusinessLife Advocates Greater Support for Girls in ICT as Students Showcase AI Innovations