Digital Tools Alone Cannot Fix Nigeria’s Health System, Experts Warn

Digital innovations alone are insufficient to overcome Nigeria's healthcare system deficiencies, according to experts at the Insights Learning Forum (ILF) 2026, eHealth Africa's digital health conference in Abuja. They urged a greater focus on sustainable financing and robust institutional ownership to ensure the long-term viability of digital health initiatives.

Ota Akhigbe, Director of Partnerships and Programmes at eHealth Africa, stated that the success of digital health projects should be measured by their sustained functionality rather than the number of launches. She emphasized that institutional ownership, sustainable financing, and accountability are crucial for digital health interventions to outlive donor funding. Akhigbe called for practical commitments over ambitious, unfulfilled promises, hoping for tangible outcomes from the forum.

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Our hope is that by this time next year, we will be counting outcomes produced from this year’s forum.

Adam Thompson, Group Chief Executive Officer of eHealth Africa, shared nearly two decades of experience, noting that technology alone cannot solve the continent's healthcare issues. He explained that eHealth Africa's initial focus on building digital systems evolved after realizing that platforms require supporting infrastructure, trained personnel, logistics, and operational systems to succeed. "We realized we were trying to deliver the last mile of a system when the road had not yet been built," Thompson said, illustrating the need for a holistic approach.

The forum brought together policymakers, healthcare professionals, development partners, and technology experts to discuss practical solutions for strengthening health systems across Africa. The consensus was that while digital tools are valuable, they must be integrated into a comprehensive strategy that addresses underlying systemic weaknesses, including infrastructure and human resources, to achieve lasting impact.

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We realised we were trying to deliver the last mile of a system when the road had not yet been built.