Lere Baale Seeks Dedicated Healthcare Funding To Sustain Nigeria’s Industrial Boom

Chief executive of Business School Netherlands International and president of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy, Professor Lere Baale, has called for urgent and institutionalised healthcare-specific funding to sustain what he described as Nigeria’s “emerging healthcare industrial boom.”

He made the call in a keynote address titled, “Sustaining Nigeria’s Healthcare Industrial Boom: The Need for Dedicated Healthcare Funding” at the Codix Dinner on Friday, in Lagos.

Speaking to an audience of policymakers, industry leaders, regulators, development partners and key players in the private sector, Prof. Baale said Nigeria is at a “critical inflexion point” in its healthcare and pharmaceutical development journey.

Baale, who has authored over 25 books and shaped leadership thinking across Africa and beyond, said the country is currently witnessing a rapid transformation driven by expanded local manufacturing capacity, increased diagnostic innovation, improved regulatory confidence, the return of skilled professionals, and stronger regional and international partnerships.

“This transformation did not happen by accident. It emerged from necessity and leadership, shaped by lessons from global supply chain disruptions, the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign exchange volatility, and renewed alignment between regulation and national industrial priorities,” he said.

However, Baale warned that the sustainability of this progress is threatened by the lack of structured, long-term and affordable healthcare financing.

“Healthcare manufacturing is not trading. It is capital-intensive, highly regulated, technologically demanding and talent-driven. Financing it with short-term, high-cost instruments undermines sustainability. A healthcare industrial boom without dedicated funding is like a factory without power,” he cautioned.

Baale argued that dedicated healthcare financing is crucial for stabilising medicine supply, meeting global quality standards, creating high-value jobs, strengthening national security and attracting global partnerships.

To close the funding gap, he proposed a seven-point framework that includes increasing the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund from one per cent to three per cent of consolidated revenue, domiciling the expanded fund with the Bank of Industry in collaboration with the Health Ministry, with Medipool structures at state and local levels, and introducing Bank of Industry guarantees for healthcare industry contracts.

Others include enforcing a maximum 30-day payment cycle to protect manufacturers’ cash flow, structuring healthcare funding as a revolving fund, establishing guaranteed offtake and sales frameworks to support capacity expansion, and creating a “win-win” architecture for government, industry, banks investors and citizens.

Baale said countries such as India, China and Brazil, strengthened their healthcare sectors through deliberate and long-term financing systems, rather than leaving growth to chance.

While commending Codix for its contributions to Nigeria’s healthcare ecosystem, he emphasised that the industry alone cannot sustain the evolving transformation.

“Banks must evolve from lenders to development partners. Policymakers must view healthcare as an investment in infrastructure, not merely an expenditure. Regulators must balance safety with industrial growth. Institutional investors must recognise healthcare as a long-term value sector,” he said.

Baale warned that failure to act decisively could lead to lost investments, lives and national confidence.

“If we fund healthcare the way we fund our future, Nigeria will not merely meet its healthcare needs, it will emerge as a healthcare industrial force in Africa and beyond,” he said.