General News
Newmark Webinar Explores How AI Could Transform Healthcare in Africa
A recent webinar hosted by the Newmark Group examined how Artificial Intelligence AI is changing healthcare across Africa, highlighting both its promise and its risks.
Newmark
The session, titled “AI in Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges,” brought together healthcare and communications experts who agreed that AI can help fix long-standing problems in Africa’s health systems — but only if it is used carefully and responsibly.
Gilbert Manirakiza, CEO of Newmark Group in his opening speech said that AI is already helping speed up decision-making. He said AI tools can quickly analyse patient feedback, monitor conversations online, personalise health messages for different audiences and reduce delays in approvals.
He noted that many patients now turn to AI tools like ChatGPT to ask about symptoms and treatments. Because of this, he said health communicators must take responsibility for ensuring accurate information is available.
“If AI makes mistakes in healthcare, the consequences affect real lives,” he said.
Manirakiza stressed that Africa’s healthcare environment is unique. Many communities rely on mobile phones, speak different local languages and trust religious or community leaders. He warned that AI systems built mainly with Western data may misunderstand African realities.
He summarised his position simply: AI should help speed up work, but humans must ensure accuracy.
Daniel Marfo spoke about how AI is already being used in practical ways. Insurance companies now use AI systems to process thousands of claims daily. In hospitals, electronic medical records can suggest possible diagnoses and help doctors decide which patients need urgent attention.
He also said AI tools are helping detect problems in X-rays and MRI scans faster, especially in places where there are few radiologists. This reduces waiting time for patients.
At a national level, countries such as Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Ghana are building health data centres powered by AI to help governments track diseases and plan better responses.
However, Marfo warned that AI tools must be built using local medical guidelines to gain doctors’ trust. He emphasised that AI should support doctors, not replace them.
Dr. Afriyie Bempah focused on how AI can help countries prepare for health crises before they happen. He said resilience is not just about recovering from shocks, but about predicting them early.
He cited examples such as Kenya using AI to track mosquito patterns to predict malaria outbreaks, and Ghana using digital tools to improve disease reporting. In South Africa, digital health systems have been adapted to manage patients with chronic illnesses remotely.
He explained that linking clinics, pharmacies and supply chains through data sharing can help detect disease trends early and prevent large outbreaks.
During the question session, speakers discussed challenges such as data privacy, incorrect AI outputs, biased systems, and resistance from some healthcare workers.
They recommended clear rules for AI use, fact-checking AI-generated information, and creating internal review teams to monitor its application.
In their closing remarks, the panel encouraged healthcare professionals to learn how to work with AI tools to improve efficiency. They also urged young Africans to see healthcare technology as a major opportunity for innovation and investment.
The webinar concluded that AI is here to stay in healthcare. But its success in Africa will depend on strong regulation, local adaptation and continued human oversight — especially in a sector where mistakes can cost lives.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery is reportedly nearing completion of a $2.5 billion private placement that values the company at about $40 billion ahead of its planned public listing.
Private placement is the direct sale of company shares or bonds to pre-selected investors instead of the general public and it is used to raise money quickly while avoiding strict public reporting rules.
People familiar with the transaction said investors acquired as much as 6 per cent of the refinery, according to a BusinessDay report.
The reported terms would value the business at approximately $40 billion.
Neither Dangote Group nor the refinery has publicly announced the final amount raised, the identities of most subscribers or the precise percentage sold.
The figures should therefore be treated as transaction details supplied by unnamed sources rather than confirmed company disclosures.
The reported $2.5 billion total is nevertheless significant as it indicates strong demand for exposure to a privately controlled refinery that has rapidly become central to Nigeria’s fuel supply and an increasingly important exporter of petroleum products.
The placement was said to have attracted more demand than the available shares, allowing the company to secure substantially more than the amount initially associated with the fundraising exercise.
Femi Otedola, chairman, First HoldCo, is the only major participant publicly identified in the report.
He reportedly committed $100 million to the transaction and sold his investment in Geregu Power Plc to finance the acquisition.
Nigeria’s pension industry was also reportedly cleared to participate.
Access to more than $17 billion in retirement assets would broaden the refinery’s potential investor base beyond wealthy individuals and conventional institutional buyers.
Participation by Pension Fund Administrators would, however, require careful attention to valuation, liquidity and portfolio-concentration limits.
Retirement funds must balance the attraction of a large Nigerian industrial asset against their responsibility to protect contributors’ savings.
The implied $40 billion valuation represents investor expectations about the refinery’s future earnings rather than only the physical cost of constructing the facility.
Its ability to process 650,000 barrels of crude daily gives it a central role in supplying Nigeria and other markets, but its commercial performance remains connected to crude availability, product prices, exchange rates and regulation.
The refinery has struggled to obtain all the Nigerian crude it requires under the government’s naira-for-crude arrangement.
It has consequently purchased some feedstock internationally and recently moved local petroleum-product pricing into dollars to align sales revenue more closely with its foreign-currency expenses.
Those constraints will be important during any public offering.
Prospective shareholders will want greater clarity on crude-supply contracts, debt, operating margins, export revenue and the company’s relationship with Nigerian regulators.
It is also unclear whether the private placement involved newly issued shares, a sale by existing owners or a combination of both.
That distinction determines whether the reported $2.5 billion becomes fresh capital for the refinery or proceeds received by selling shareholders.
The transaction could provide a useful price reference for the planned initial public offering.
Federal government will next month launch Nigeria’s first national organized crime strategy to strengthen the country’s response to terrorism, cybercrime, human and drug trafficking, kidnapping, illicit financial flows, and other forms of organized crime.
Major General Adamu Laka, national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre under the Office of the National Security Adviser, disclosed this in Abuja during the validation of the strategy document.
He said the strategy provides a coordinated national framework for tackling organized crime through improved intelligence sharing, stronger collaboration among security agencies, and closer cooperation with the criminal justice system, civil society organizations, and international partners.
Major General Laka explained that the document was developed through a partnership involving the Federal Government, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United States Government, and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the event, Cheikh Toure, UNODC representative, said the strategy would strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to combat transnational crimes, including drug trafficking, cybercrime, human trafficking, kidnapping, and illicit financial flows.
Also speaking, Douglas Grane, acting director of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, reaffirmed the U.S. government’s support for Nigeria’s efforts to tackle organized crime through stronger inter-agency and international cooperation.
Representatives of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, and the National Cyber Security Centre also endorsed the initiative, describing it as a major step towards improving Nigeria’s fight against organized crime.
FATE Foundation, with funding from the Citi Foundation, has launched the Youth Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme to equip young people in Nigeria with financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills.
Delivered through free, safe, and accessible platforms, the programme supports the incubation and scaling of youth-led enterprises, enabling income generation and job creation.
In October 2025, FATE Foundation was selected as a recipient of Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge to Accelerate Youth Employability. Joining the cohort of 50 organisations globally, the Foundation will receive $500,000 over two years to advance its youth employability initiative.
“We are excited to be selected for Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge,” said Ayomide Akindolie-Igwe, Executive Director of FATE Foundation.
“This support enables us to equip young entrepreneurs in Nigeria with the financial literacy and skills needed to build and scale sustainable businesses.”
The programme addresses youth employability by tackling Africa’s growing jobs crisis. By 2030, the African continent will be home to 40% of the world’s youth, and with one in three under 35 already unemployed, this initiative will support Nigerian youth with a two-phase approach. It begins with financial literacy training before progressing to entrepreneurship development, incubation support, and access to tools needed to build viable, job-creating businesses.
“Through this innovative initiative, FATE Foundation is supporting low-income Nigerian youth to develop essential financial and entrepreneurial skills using accessible platforms.
“This support is not just helping individuals to succeed; it is building a solid foundation for sustainable enterprises that will drive job creation and contribute significantly to our nation’s economic vitality. This initiative is empowering and investing in the future of Nigeria, one youth at a time,” said Nneka Enwereji, MD/CEO Citibank Nigeria Limited.
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