Nigeria Seeks Private Investment To Drive Healthcare Electrification Nationwide

The federal government has renewed its push for private sector participation in financing and powering healthcare facilities across the country, as part of efforts to address persistent electricity challenges undermining service delivery in the health sector.

The call was made at the National Healthcare Electrification Investor Matchmaking Forum, held in Lagos, under the Nigeria Power for Health Initiative (NPHI).

Speaking at the forum, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, said reliable energy supply is critical to achieving quality healthcare delivery and improving health outcomes nationwide.

He noted that inadequate and unstable electricity supply continues to disrupt essential health services, including surgeries, vaccine storage, diagnostic procedures, oxygen delivery, emergency response systems and digital health innovations.

The minister said electricity should be viewed not just as a utility but as a fundamental driver of healthcare delivery, warning that energy poverty remains a major barrier to the federal government’s health sector reforms and transformation agenda.

Dr. Salako disclosed that the Nigeria Power for Health Initiative was developed following a National Stakeholders’ Dialogue on Power in the Health Sector and has since been approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the national framework for driving healthcare electrification.

He explained that the initiative introduces a shift from traditional government-funded and donor-dependent infrastructure models to a private-sector-led “Energy-as-a-Service” framework designed to ensure sustainability and efficiency in healthcare electrification.

Under the model, specialised Energy Service Providers are expected to finance, install, operate and maintain energy systems in healthcare facilities, while health institutions focus on service delivery. The arrangement, he said, would enhance accountability, attract investment, and guarantee predictable returns for investors.

Although the current phase targets federal tertiary health institutions, the minister said the initiative is designed to eventually extend to primary and secondary healthcare facilities across public and private sectors nationwide.

To strengthen investor confidence, he highlighted the governance structure supporting the initiative, including an Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee, a 24-member Inter-Agency Technical Committee, Facility Energy Management Teams, and a dedicated project secretariat within the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

Dr. Salako also noted that the government is adopting a blended financing strategy combining public funding, development finance, climate finance, concessional capital and private investment to scale up sustainable energy solutions across health facilities.

He commended development partners, including the United Kingdom Partnership for Accelerating Climate Transition (UK PACT) and Landell Mills International, for their support in designing the initiative’s framework and implementation structure.

The minister urged commercial banks, development finance institutions, infrastructure funds, impact investors and energy developers to take advantage of emerging opportunities in the healthcare electrification sector.

He described the investor matchmaking forum as a platform that would connect ideas to projects and projects to investment, ultimately delivering reliable electricity to healthcare facilities across the country.

“Together, we can build a future where every healthcare facility in Nigeria has access to reliable, affordable and sustainable energy,” he said, reaffirming government’s commitment to providing an enabling environment for investment in the sector.

The Federal Government said the initiative is expected to reduce dependence on diesel-powered generators, strengthen health system resilience, and improve overall healthcare delivery nationwide.