Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, has called for urgent and sustained investment in digital health skills across Africa to ensure the continent’s healthcare systems are resilient, inclusive, and future-ready.
Delivering a keynote address at the 2025 Africa Health Tech Summit (AHTS) held on Monday, at the Kigali Convention Centre, in Rwanda, Dr. Salako said technology alone cannot solve Africa’s health challenges without adequately trained health workers who can deploy it effectively.
Speaking on the plenary theme, “The Case for Digital Health Skilling in Africa,” the Minister emphasized that “the pathway to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and resilient health systems is not built on technology alone, because technology itself is only as good as the people who use it.”
He noted that digital health skills represent both an economic and moral imperative, stressing that “the most sustainable investment we can make in health transformation is not in devices or dashboards, but in the human beings who will power them.”
Dr. Salako called for stronger collaboration among governments, academia, private sector players, and development partners to develop regional centres of excellence that will drive research, innovation, and capacity building in digital health.
He also urged African countries to standardize and accredit digital health competencies to allow mutual recognition and mobility of skilled professionals across the continent.
Highlighting Nigeria’s efforts, the Minister said the country is implementing a people-centered digital transformation under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, guided by the Nigeria Digital Health Strategy (2021–2025) and the Nigeria Digital in Health Initiative (NDHI).
He explained that the initiative aims to build a unified, secure, and interoperable digital ecosystem that empowers health workers and ensures equitable access to healthcare for all Nigerians. “Our goal is not just to digitalize health delivery systems but to ensure that every health worker, from the most remote primary health centre to tertiary hospitals, is equipped to use digital tools for care delivery and policy decision-making,” he said.
According to Salako, 76% of Nigeria’s federal tertiary health institutions currently have varying levels of digitization, ranging from 50–100%, with similar progress being recorded at state and local government levels. He added that the federal government is providing incentives to accelerate health digitization nationwide, with plans to establish a National Health Information Exchange by 2027.
Dr. Salako also underscored the need to improve the digital literacy of the general population to ensure inclusive adoption of digital health tools, noting that this would require investment in infrastructure, education, and public awareness.
“The case for digital health skilling in Africa is no longer optional, it is practical, urgent, and transformational,” he said. “We must invest in the digital capacity of our people to achieve Universal Health Coverage and to build resilient health systems that can withstand future shocks.”
He added a clarion call for collective action: “Together, we can make technology the heartbeat of a healthier, more connected Africa, one where every health worker is empowered, every patient is seen, and every community is served.”
Signed
Alaba Balogun
Head, Information & Public Relations
15 October 2025
