Mr Adeyinka Asekun, a Nigerian business management professional and former High Commissioner to Canada, has called for a stronger framework to attract private investment into the country’s healthcare sector.
He said Nigeria had the healthcare demand, talent and entrepreneurial capacity needed to build a stronger system, but lacked the coordination and investment framework to translate those opportunities into dependable healthcare delivery.
Mr Asekun made the call in an article on healthcare financing and investment in Nigeria.
He said government alone could not provide universal healthcare and urged the public and private sectors to work together to mobilise the resources needed to expand access and improve service delivery.
According to him, government health spending remained below one per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while Nigerians continued to pay a large share of healthcare costs directly from their pockets.
He said the situation left millions of households vulnerable to financial hardship whenever they faced medical emergencies.
Mr Asekun said private healthcare providers, insurers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacies, technology companies, banks and investors were already participating in the sector, but their activities remained largely fragmented.
“What is missing is coordination: a framework that turns fragmented activity into an organised market capable of advancing public health goals,” he said.
He cited Nigeria’s telecommunications sector as an example of how clear regulations and investor confidence could attract private capital at scale.
Mr Asekun said similar opportunities existed in pharmaceutical manufacturing, diagnostics, primary healthcare infrastructure, supply chains, facility power and digital health.
However, he said many potential projects had failed to attract investment because investors lacked clarity on revenue sources, regulations, risks, expected returns and payment arrangements.
He also called for stronger domestic resource mobilisation, saying government could generate additional revenue by improving tax compliance, reducing leakages, simplifying compliance and strengthening digital administration.
Citing research by AfriCatalyst, he said Nigeria forfeited between $12.5 billion and $25 billion in revenue annually, with the compliance gap exceeding the policy gap.
He said closing one-quarter of the gap could generate between $3.1 billion and $6.25 billion annually, which could help strengthen the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), expand National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) coverage and improve primary healthcare.
Mr Asekun said stronger and predictable public financing would not necessarily crowd out private capital but could instead attract more investment.
He explained that reliable funding for the BHCPF would create demand for medicines, diagnostics and health facility services, while wider NHIA coverage would provide businesses with a more predictable market.
He identified three conditions necessary to attract private investment into the sector.
First, he said, government must be a credible stakeholder by releasing funds on time, paying claims predictably and reporting performance transparently.
Second, government institutions must develop properly costed and structured healthcare projects that clearly define financing arrangements, responsibilities, risks and expected outcomes.
Third, he said private investment must promote inclusion and should not be concentrated on premium healthcare facilities in urban centres while rural communities remained underserved.
Mr Asekun cited healthcare initiatives in Rwanda and Ghana, as well as the Africa Frontline First Catalytic Fund, as examples of how public and private financing could be combined to improve healthcare access.
He said the experiences demonstrated that private-sector expertise could deliver greater public value when integrated into national healthcare systems and designed to serve wider populations.
Mr Asekun also urged businesses seeking government contracts, guarantees or organised demand to operate transparently, meet service standards, invest for the long term and accept rigorous oversight.
He said government and business had separate but complementary roles in building a sustainable healthcare system.
“Government must mobilise resources fairly, protect vulnerable people, establish credible rules and purchase essential services reliably. Business must invest, innovate, manage risk and scale delivery,” he said.
He said fiscal credibility was critical to building trust between government and investors.
Mr Asekun said citizens would have greater confidence in domestic resource mobilisation when public revenue translated into insurance coverage, stocked health facilities and reliable healthcare.
He added that investors would similarly commit more capital when they saw credible regulations, predictable payments and a strong pipeline of viable healthcare projects.
“Nigeria has the need, talent and enterprise. Our task now is to build the system that joins them,” he said.
