Key points
- The Federal Government introduced an investment-driven infrastructure plan to provide reliable electricity to 30% of national health facilities by 2027.
- The Nigeria Power for Health Initiative will utilize public-private partnerships and energy-as-a-service models to eliminate chronic power challenges.
- Inadequate electricity supply currently disrupts critical medical operations including emergency care, surgeries, and vaccine cold-chain storage.
- Under the private-sector-led framework, external energy developers will finance, install, and maintain power systems while hospitals pay for used service.
- The infrastructure program is backed by the UK PACT initiative to help local healthcare institutions develop bankable, climate-financed project proposals.
Main Story
The Federal Government has stepped up its efforts to attract private capital into national healthcare infrastructure, unveiling a strategic investment-driven model aimed at providing reliable electricity to at least 30% of Nigeria’s health facilities by 2027.
Speaking on Monday at the Nigeria Power for Health Initiative (NPHI) Investor Matchmaking Forum in Lagos, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, stated that the program leverages public-private partnerships and energy-as-a-service frameworks to resolve chronic power deficits across the medical sector.
The forum brought together local and international financiers, development institutions, healthcare administrators, and renewable energy developers to explore strategic infrastructure partnerships.
According to the ministry, inadequate electricity remains a severe operational constraint to efficient healthcare delivery, directly compromising surgeries, diagnostic accuracy, blood banking, and emergency care, while the high cost of running fossil-fuel generators drains hospital resources meant for medicines and workforce retention.
To solve this, the NPHI replaces the traditional model of state-funded energy projects which routinely suffer from maintenance failures with a sustainable, private-sector-led approach. Under the new arrangement, contracted energy companies will entirely finance, install, operate, and maintain power systems in health facilities, allowing hospitals to focus exclusively on clinical care while paying for energy as a delivered service. The program will initially target federal tertiary hospitals before expanding to secondary, primary, and private healthcare centers across the country.
To strengthen governance and boost investor confidence, the program is being implemented through a collaborative framework involving the Federal Ministries of Health and Power, supported by a newly established steering committee, a 24-member inter-agency technical committee, and dedicated facility energy management teams.
The initiative is technically backed by the UK PACT program, which is currently supporting healthcare institutions to develop bankable financial models and investment proposals to attract long-term climate finance. Power ministry officials emphasized that renewable energy technologies, particularly solar and battery storage systems, offer the most viable, cost-effective solutions to upgrade hospital grids, enhance patient care, and insulate public health systems from energy inflation.
The Issues
- Designing robust, risk-managed tariff structures to ensure hospitals can consistently afford service payments without depleting clinical budgets.
- Scaling the solar and battery storage systems from centralized tertiary centers down to remote, underserved primary healthcare facilities.
- Synchronizing the technical oversight and standards between the dual regulatory umbrellas of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Power.
What’s Being Said
- Detailing the structural shift in infrastructure management, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare Dr. Iziaq Salako stated: “This energy-as-a-service approach aligns incentives and is designed to reward operators for performance and reliability,” adding that the traditional model of government-funded energy projects often suffers maintenance challenges.
- Commenting on the technical preparation for private capital injection, Senior UK PACT Officer Folakemi Aletan noted: “Today represents the point at which all the work we are doing is being tested,” highlighting the ongoing development of bankable energy plans and financial models for local institutions.
What’s Next
- Transaction advisers and facility energy management teams will finalize the auditing of the first wave of federal tertiary hospitals to publish investment prospectuses.
- Commercial banks, renewable energy developers, and climate financiers will begin submitting expressions of interest through the investor matchmaking framework.
- Trained finance directors across target institutions will deploy standardized accounting systems to handle incoming energy-as-a-service contract billings.
Bottom Line
The Federal Government, in partnership with UK PACT, has launched an energy-as-a-service model to electrify 30% of Nigeria’s health facilities by 2027, handing over the financing, installation, and maintenance of solar infrastructure to private operators to eliminate chronic hospital power outages.
