By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – AS health remains wealth, stakeholders including healthcare leaders, policymakers, regulators, investors, manufacturers, and development partners convened at the HFN-WHX Healthcare Leadership Conference 2026 to explore practical pathways to facilitate sustainable market access and investment to drive health system transformation in Nigeria and Africa.

The high-level conference with the theme, ‘Enabling Market Access and Investment Readiness to Drive Health System Transformation’ was organized by the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria, HFN, in partnership with WHX Lagos, with over 200 participants in attendance from across the healthcare ecosystem with other participating virtually.

Participants focused on pertinent issues bordering on regulatory barriers, financing gaps, supply chain constraints, and system readiness challenges that continue to impede the growth and scale of healthcare innovations and investments.

Meanwhile, the President of HFN and Country Director of PharmAccess, Mrs. Njide Ndili, stressed and maintained that there is the need to have synergy for stronger alignment across the healthcare ecosystem in Nigeria and Africa.

Ndili said: “Nigeria’s healthcare sector holds significant potential for innovation, investment, and local growth. However, unlocking that potential requires stronger alignment between policy, capital, market access, and implementation capacity. The time has come to move from dialogue to coordinated action, from innovation to scale, and from opportunity to impact.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, while delivering the keynote address and declaring the conference officially open, reaffirmed the Tinubu-led administration’s commitment to providing conducive and enabling environment for healthcare investments and innovations.

Salako also highlighted ongoing reforms and investments within the Nigerian health sector, including the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp), the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC), and major investments in diagnostic, oncology, and cardiac care infrastructure aimed at strengthening healthcare delivery and expanding access to quality care across the country.

He said, “Nigeria is open for healthcare investment. Our hospitals need the very best in diagnostic equipment, therapeutic technologies, and digital health infrastructure, and we are determined to ensure that innovation ultimately reaches the patients who need it most.”

Meanwhile, the representative of the Lagos State Government, Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, maintained that there is no gainsaying about the fact that health sovereignty and expanding health insurance coverage remain the pathway to attracting massive and lasting investment into the healthcare sector.

Prof Abayomi also expressed optimism that increasing access to health insurance would strengthen purchasing power, reduce reliance on out-of-pocket spending of citizens, also stimulate demand for healthcare services, and create the conditions necessary for greater private-sector investment and sustainable growth.

Providing a continental perspective, the Special Regional Representative of the Director-General, West Africa Regional Coordinating Centre (RCC), Africa CDC, Prof. Aliko Ahmed, emphasized the critical role of quality, trust, and local manufacturing in strengthening Africa’s health security and sovereignty agenda.

“Quality opens markets. It is a passport to market access”, he said, while he highlighted Africa CDC’s efforts to promote regulatory harmonization, pooled procurement mechanisms, and stronger local manufacturing ecosystems across the continent.

He further noted that Africa’s long-term health security depends on strengthening domestic production capacity, reducing dependency on external supply chains, and fostering meaningful partnerships between governments, investors, manufacturers, innovators, and the private sector.

The conference also had a high-level panel discussion titled ‘Winning in Nigeria: Market Entry, Scale, and Partnerships’ brought together industry leaders and investment experts to examine practical strategies for scaling healthcare businesses, attracting investment, navigating regulatory requirements, and building sustainable partnerships, and was moderated by the MD, SFH Advisory & Professional Services Limited and 2nd Vice President of HFN, Dr. Jennifer Anyanti, and the discussions reinforced the importance of quality, compliance, governance, investment readiness, and market intelligence in driving healthcare growth and innovation.

Prof. Ahmed further noted that Africa’s long-term health security depends on strengthening domestic production capacity, reducing dependency on external supply chains, and fostering meaningful partnerships between governments, investors, manufacturers, innovators, and the private sector.

During the panel discussion, the Executive Director of the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), Dr. Peter Kwame Yeboah, highlighted quality as a critical enabler of market access and sustainable growth. Drawing from CHAG’ experience across more than 375 health facilities, he noted that investments in quality improvement led to increased patient utilization, stronger client retention, improved revenues, and greater investor confidence.

“Quality is the credential for market entry. Quality builds trust, and trust is the biggest social capital any healthcare organization can earn”, Yeboah said.

In his closing remarks, the First Vice President of HFN, Dr. Benson Ayodele-Cole, noted that the conference had identified four critical barriers requiring urgent attention: regulatory barriers, financing gaps, supply chain and local capacity constraints, and limited system readiness.

He reaffirmed HFN’s commitment to continuing stakeholder engagement and advancing practical solutions that move the healthcare sector from discussion to implementation.

“The objective is not simply to continue the conversation, but to drive real action that improves market access, strengthens investment readiness, and accelerates health system transformation”, Ayodele-Cole, added.

The conference concluded with a renewed commitment among stakeholders to deepen collaboration, strengthen healthcare value chains, mobilize investment, and accelerate the adoption of innovative solutions that improve healthcare access and outcomes for Nigerians.