Nigeria's Power Minister seeks sustainable funding for healthcare electrification

Nigeria's Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has appealed to both local and international investors to embrace sustainable financing models for electrifying the nation's healthcare facilities. Speaking at the National Healthcare Electrification Investor Matchmaking Forum in Lagos, Tegbe highlighted the critical role of reliable electricity in healthcare delivery.

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reliable electricity is not merely an infrastructure requirement but a fundamental pillar of healthcare delivery.

The forum, organized under the Nigeria Power for Health Initiative by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in collaboration with UK PACT, brought together government representatives, medical directors, development partners, and private sector leaders. The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Isiaq Salako, hosted the event.

Tegbe described the power sector as a compelling investment opportunity in Africa. He emphasized that the Nigeria Power for Health Initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and ongoing power sector reforms. The initiative seeks to integrate energy planning into health infrastructure development, deploy grid enhancement and renewable hybrid systems, and strengthen coordination among power sector institutions, health authorities, regulators, and private sector partners.

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The initiative is also aimed at strengthening coordination between power sector institutions, health authorities, regulators, and private sector partners.

With over 35,000 registered health facilities across Nigeria, the minister sees a substantial pipeline of bankable projects. These projects, including solar mini-grids, hybrid energy systems, battery storage, and energy efficiency technologies, are expected to attract significant local and international capital. Tegbe assured investors of the Federal Government's commitment and inter-ministerial coordination, noting that the Ministry of Power is already actively involved in deploying solar mini-grids and hybrid systems to health facilities under the World Bank-funded Nigeria Electrification Project.

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The strength of the framework lies not in the ambition of its vision, but in the quality of its structure, assuring them that the Federal Government would provide commitment and inter-ministerial coordination.